Toxoplasma gondii: a morphometric analysis of the wall and epithelial cells of pigs intestine.
The aim of this study was to perform a morphometric analysis of the different layers of the jejunal wall and epithelial cells of pigs with toxoplasmosis. Experiments were conducted using 10, 88-day-old crossbred (Pietran x Wessex) pigs divided into two groups: control (n=5) and experimental (n=5). The experimental group consisted of animals inoculated orally with 5000 sporulated oocysts of a genotype III strain of Toxoplasma gondii. At 30 and 60 days following inoculation, the animals were anaesthetised for jejunal biopsy. The intestinal segments were processed routinely for histology. Transverse cuts (4 microm thick) were stained with haematoxylin and eosin (HE), Periodic Acid Schiff (PAS), Alcian Blue (AB), pH 2.5, and Alcian Blue (AB), pH 1.0. We observed hypertrophy of the jejunal wall, increased enterocyte height, and a decreased number of intraepithelial lymphocytes in the infected animals. There were no changes in the number of goblet cells.
Instituto de Pesquisa Estudos e Ambiência Científica, Universidade Paranaense, Umuarama, Paraná, Brazil.
Patrícia de Cássia
Pde C
da Silva
Celina Sayuri
CS
Shiraishi
Aristeu Vieira da
AV
Silva
Gentil Ferreira
GF
Gonçalves
Débora de Mello Gonçales
Dde M
Sant'Ana
Eduardo José de Almeida
EJ
Araújo
D000818:Animals; D007413:Intestinal Mucosa / Q000469:parasitology / Q000473:pathology; D007583:Jejunum / Q000469:parasitology / Q000473:pathology*; D051379:Mice; D034421:Sus scrofa / Q000469:parasitology*; D013552:Swine; D013553:Swine Diseases / Q000469:parasitology / Q000473:pathology*; D014124:Toxoplasmosis, Animal / Q000469:parasitology / Q000473:pathology*