title: A magnetic resonance imaging study of intestinal dilation in Trypanosoma cruzi-infected mice deficient in nitric oxide synthase.
abstract: Infection with Trypanosoma cruzi causes megasyndromes of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. We used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to monitor alterations in the GI tract of T. cruzi-infected mice, and to assess the role of nitric oxide (NO) in the development of intestinal dilation. Brazil strain-infected C57BL/6 wild-type (WT) mice exhibited dilatation of the intestines by 30 days post-infection. Average intestine lumen diameter increased by 72%. Levels of intestinal NO synthase (NOS) isoforms, NOS2 and NOS3, were elevated in infected WT mice. Inflammation and ganglionitis were observed in all infected mice. Intestinal dilation was observed in infected WT, NOS1, NOS2, and NOS3 null mice. This study demonstrates that MRI is a useful tool to monitor intestinal dilation in living mice and that these alterations may begin during acute infection. Furthermore, our data strongly suggests that NO may not be the sole contributor to intestinal dysfunction resulting from this infection.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, SE-413 45 Göteborg, Sweden.
authors.forename: Lars
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ny
authors.forename: Hua
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Shankar
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mukherjee
authors.forename: Katarina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Persson
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Holmqvist
authors.forename: Dazhi
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Vitaliy
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Shtutin
authors.forename: Huan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Louis M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Weiss
authors.forename: Fabiana S
authors.initials: FS
authors.lastname: Machado
authors.forename: Stephen M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Factor
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: Herbert B
authors.initials: HB
authors.lastname: Tanowitz
authors.forename: Linda A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Jelicks
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D014355:Chagas Disease / Q000473:pathology*; D017931:DNA Primers; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D007422:Intestines / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D051379:Mice; D009569:Nitric Oxide / Q000502:physiology; D019001:Nitric Oxide Synthase / Q000235:genetics*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D014349:Trypanosoma cruzi / Q000302:isolation & purification
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D009569:Nitric Oxide; D019001:Nitric Oxide Synthase