Early Trichinella spiralis and Trichinella nativa infections induce similar gene expression profiles in rat jejunal mucosa.
Trichinella spiralis causes a significantly higher parasite burden in rat muscle than Trichinella nativa. To assess whether the difference in infectivity is due to the early intestinal response, we analyzed gene expression changes in the rat jejunum during Trichinella infection with a whole-genome microarray. The rats were euthanized on day five of infection, and their jejunal mucosa was sampled for microarray analysis. In addition, intestinal histology and hematology were examined. Against our expectations, the gene expression changes were similar in both T.nativa- and T. spiralis-infected groups. The two groups were hence pooled, and in the combined Trichinella-infected group, 551 genes were overexpressed and 427 underexpressed when compared to controls (false discovery rate ≤ 0.001 and fold change at least 2 in either direction). Pathway analysis identified seven pathways significantly associated with Trichinella infection (p < 0.05). The microarray data suggested nonspecific damage and an inflammatory response in the jejunal mucosa. Histological findings, including hyperemia, hemorrhage and a marked infiltration of inflammatory cells, supported the microarray data. Trichinella infection caused complex gene expression changes that indicate a host response to tissue damage in the mucosa of the jejunum, but the changes were not notably dependent on the studied species of Trichinella.
Department of Veterinary Biosciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 66, Helsinki 00014, Finland. Electronic address: niina.airas@helsinki.fi.
Niina
N
Airas
Anu
A
Näreaho
Jere
J
Lindén
Erkka
E
Valo
Sampsa
S
Hautaniemi
Pikka
P
Jokelainen
Antti
A
Sukura
D000818:Animals; D001772:Blood Cell Count; D004386:Duodenum / Q000469:parasitology / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D007082:Ileum / Q000469:parasitology / Q000473:pathology; D007413:Intestinal Mucosa / Q000469:parasitology*; D007583:Jejunum / Q000469:parasitology* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D046031:Raccoon Dogs; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D015398:Signal Transduction; D013552:Swine; D059467:Transcriptome; D014234:Trichinella / Q000502:physiology*; D017160:Trichinella spiralis / Q000502:physiology*; D014235:Trichinellosis / Q000235:genetics / Q000469:parasitology*
Gene expression; Jejunum; Microarray; Rat; Trichinella nativa; Trichinella spiralis