Cerebral metabolic reduction in severe malaria: fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography imaging in a primate model of severe human malaria with cerebral involvement.
Cerebral metabolic changes in Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata) infected with Plasmodium coatneyi, a primate model of severe human malaria with cerebral involvement, were directly evaluated by fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography (FDG-PET). We observed diffuse and heterogeneous reduction of metabolism in the cerebral cortex in the acute phase of malaria infection. Neuropathologic examination showed preferential sequestration of parasitized red blood cells in the cerebral microvasculature. However, hemorrhagic change or necrosis was not observed in hematoxylin and eosin-stained and Nissl-stained brain tissues. This suggests that reduction of cerebral metabolism occurs before parenchymal changes appear in the brain. This may be one reason why more than half of the patients with cerebral malaria have no neurologic sequelae after recovery.
Sugiyama
Munehiro
M
Department of Parasitology, Gunma University Graduate School of Medicine, Maebashi 371-8511, Japan. msugijp@yahoo.co.jp
Ikeda
Eiji
E
Kawai
Satoru
S
Higuchi
Tetsuya
T
Zhang
Hong
H
Khan
Nasim
N
Tomiyoshi
Katsumi
K
Inoue
Tomio
T
Yamaguchi
Haruyasu
H
Katakura
Ken
K
Endo
Keigo
K
Suzuki
Mamoru
M
D000818:Animals; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005260:Female; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18 / Q000378:metabolism; D008251:Macaca; D016779:Malaria, Cerebral / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000469:parasitology / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D010961:Plasmodium / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals / Q000378:metabolism; D012720:Severity of Illness Index
D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18