Virulent P. berghei malaria: prolonged survival and decreased cerebral pathology in cell-dependent nude mice.
The course of lethal Plasmodium berghei infection was examined in nu/+ and T cell-deficient nu/nu BALB/c mice. A rapidly fatal neurologic syndrome, including ataxia, hemiparesis, and seizures, was seen in the nu/+ mice early in the infection, whereas this syndrome was absent in the nu/nu mice. The nu/nu mice also developed anemia more slowly, had lower levels of immune complexes and total IgG, and had smaller decreases in serum C3 compared with the nu/+ mice. Histopathologic examination of the brains revealed cerebral malaria lesions, including vascular plugging and micro-hemorrhages, in the nu/+ mice but not in the nu/nu mice. Cerebral lesions similar in frequency and severity to those in nu/+ mice developed in nu/nu mice given spleen cells from normal nu/+ mice. The results suggest that an intact immune system is necessary for the expression of cerebral malaria.
D000818:Animals; D000917:Antibody Formation; D000936:Antigen-Antibody Complex; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D003176:Complement C3 / Q000096:biosynthesis; D005260:Female; D007111:Immunity, Cellular; D008288:Malaria / Q000276:immunology* / Q000469:parasitology / Q000473:pathology; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008819:Mice, Nude / Q000469:parasitology*; D009461:Neurologic Manifestations; D010962:Plasmodium berghei / Q000276:immunology / Q000472:pathogenicity; D014774:Virulence
D000936:Antigen-Antibody Complex; D003176:Complement C3