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Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Fiocruz
ISSN: 1678-8060 EISSN: 1678-8060
Vol. 110, No. 1, 2015, pp. 95-100
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Bioline Code: oc15007
Full paper language: English
Document type: Research Article
Document available free of charge
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Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Vol. 110, No. 1, 2015, pp. 95-100
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Experimental infection with the Toxoplasma gondii ME-49 strain in the Brazilian BR-1 mini pig is a suitable animal model for human toxoplasmosis
Miranda, Farlen José Bebber; de Souza, Diogo Benchimol; Frazão-Teixeira, Edwards; de Oliveira, Fábio Conceição; de Melo, João Cardoso; Mariano, Carlos Magno Anselmo; Albernaz, Antonio Peixoto; de Carvalho, Eulógio Carlos Queiróz; de Oliveira, Francisco Carlos Rodrigues; de Souza, Wanderley & DaMatta, Renato Augusto
Abstract
Toxoplasma gondii causes toxoplasmosis, a worldwide disease. Experimentation with pigs is necessary for the
development of new therapeutic approaches to human diseases. BR-1 mini pigs were intramuscularly infected with
T. gondii with tachyzoites (RH strain) or orally infected with cysts (ME-49 strain). Haematology and serum biochemistry
were analysed and buffy coat cells were inoculated in mice to determine tachyzoite circulation. No alterations
were observed in erythrocyte and platelet values; however, band neutrophils increased seven days after infection
with ME-49. Serology of the mice inoculated with pig blood leucocytes revealed circulating ME-49 or RH strain
tachyzoites in the pigs’ peripheral blood at two and seven or nine days post-infection. The tachyzoites were also
directly observed in blood smears from the infected pigs outside and inside leucocytes for longer periods. Alanineaminotransferase
was high at days 21 and 32 in the RH infected pigs. After 90 days, the pigs were euthanised and
their tissue samples were processed and inoculated into mice. The mice serology revealed the presence of parasites
in the hearts, ileums and mesenteric lymph nodes of the pigs. Additionally, cysts in the mice were only observed after
pig heart tissue inoculation. The infected pigs presented similar human outcomes with relatively low pathogenicity
and the BR-1 mini pig model infected with ME-49 is suitable to monitor experimental toxoplasmosis.
Keywords
Toxoplasma gondii; pig infection; haematology; parasitaemia; neutrophils
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