Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Artigo Acesso aberto Produção Nacional Revisado por pares

BIBTEX RIS

Astroglial cells in primary culture: A valid model to study Neospora caninum infection in the CNS

2006; Elsevier BV; Volume: 113; Issue: 1-2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/j.vetimm.2006.05.006

1873-2534

Alexandre Moraes Pinheiro, Sílvia Lima Costa, Songelí Menezes Freire, Maria Ângela Ornelas de Almeida, M. Tardy, Ramon dos Santos El-Bachá, M.F.D. Costa,

Coccidia and coccidiosis research

The protozoan Neospora caninum has a veterinary importance because it causes abortion in cattle and neuromuscular alterations in dogs. We infected rat astrocytes, in vitro, with different concentrations of N. caninum. Astrocytes responded to infection by producing the pro-inflammatory cytokine TNF-alpha and the neurotoxic-free radical NO, 24 and 72 h post-infection. These data suggest that astrocytes, which are essential for brain function, are targets for the parasite and this represents a practical and valid model to study the effects of N. caninum on the CNS.