Oral dependent-dose toxoplasmic infection model induced by oocysts in rats: Myenteric plexus and jejunal wall changes

Introduction The present study evaluated the effects of different inocula of Toxoplasma gondii oocysts on the ileal myenteric plexus in rats. Materials and Methods Male Wistar rats, 60 days old, were distributed into four groups: control group (CG; which received saline solution) and groups that were infected with 100 (TG100), 1000 (TG1000), and 5000 (TG5000) T. gondii oocysts. Thirty days after infection, the rats were sacrificed, and the ileum was collected to make whole-mount preparations that were subjected to immunofluorescence staining to observe the general neuronal population (HuC/D), nitrergic neurons (nNOS), and enteric glial cells (S100). Morphometric and quantitative analyses of myenteric neurons were performed. Results The infections with different T. gondii inocula did not cause neuronal or glial loss, but cause neuronal hypertrophy in general population and nitrergic subpopulation in infected groups. Conclusion: Changes in neuronal morphology were observed in the TG5000 group, including the presence of vacuoles, translocation of Hu protein to the nucleus, and dendritic distortions, suggesting functional alterations in these cells.

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Aqueous Extract ofAgaricus blazeiMurrill Prevents Age-Related Changes in the Myenteric Plexus of the Jejunum in Rats

Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine ◽

10.1155/2015/287153 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 2015 ◽

pp. 1-13

Author(s):

Ana Paula de Santi-Rampazzo ◽

João Paulo Ferreira Schoffen ◽

Carla Possani Cirilo ◽

Mariana Cristina Vicente Umada Zapater ◽

Fernando Augusto Vicentini ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Glial Cells ◽

Cell Body ◽

Aqueous Extract ◽

Myenteric Plexus ◽

Blood Parameters ◽

Quantitative Morphology ◽

Age Related ◽

Intestinal Length ◽

Daily Dose ◽

Jejunal Wall

This study evaluated the effects of the supplementation with aqueous extract ofAgaricus blazeiMurrill (ABM) on biometric and blood parameters and quantitative morphology of the myenteric plexus and jejunal wall in aging Wistar rats. The animals were euthanized at 7 (C7), 12 (C12 and CA12), and 23 months of age (C23 and CA23). The CA12 and CA23 groups received a daily dose of ABM extract (26 mg/animal) via gavage, beginning at 7 months of age. A reduction in food intake was observed with aging, with increases in the Lee index, retroperitoneal fat, intestinal length, and levels of total cholesterol and total proteins. Aging led to a reduction of the total wall thickness, mucosa tunic, villus height, crypt depth, and number of goblet cells. In the myenteric plexus, aging quantitatively decreased the population of HuC/D+neuronal and S100+glial cells, with maintenance of the nNOS+nitrergic subpopulation and increase in the cell body area of these populations. Supplementation with the ABM extract preserved the myenteric plexus in old animals, in which no differences were detected in the density and cell body profile of neurons and glial cells in the CA12 and CA23 groups, compared with C7 group. The supplementation with the aqueous extract of ABM efficiently maintained myenteric plexus homeostasis, which positively influenced the physiology and prevented the death of the neurons and glial cells.

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