Electron microscopic visualization of alterations in rodent gastric tissue induced by Cryptosporidium muris
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| Year of publication | 2013 |
| Type | Conference abstract |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
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| Description | The phylum Apicomplexa includes significant unicellular parasites of humans and animals. One of these is the genus Cryptosporidium that is the causative agent of zoonotic disease of the gastrointestinal and respiratory tract, called cryptosporidiosis. This study compares the progress of Cryptosporidium muris infection in gastric tissue of laboratory rodents, BALB/c mice and Mastomys coucha. The glandular and non-glandular parts of stomach were examined at selected time points after oral inoculation with a dose of 106 infective oocysts of C. muris. Rodents exhibited significant differences in responses to the parasitisation as well as in chronology of pathological changes of gastric tissue induced by the parasite. The sequence of individual changes during the acute phase of parasitisation, however, corresponded in both hosts. At the beginning, the gastric tissues of both hosts were irregularly affected by cryptosporidia invading the tissue in an island-like manner and thus sporadic foci of parasitisation localized within gastric pits were surrounded by large areas of healthy tissue. The first alterations of hosts' gastric surface were noticed after 5 DPI. Some pits were slightly open and enlarged. At 8-10 DPI, the cryptosporidiosis affected a majority of the glandular part in both hosts, whereas the non-glandular part exhibited no changes. Pathological chnages of the tissue included an intensive epithelial hyperplasia and a mucosal hypertrophy without inflammatory exudates. The pathological changes of gastric tissue in BALB/c mice gradually retreated from 21 DPI onwards and the complete regeneration of epithelial cells was observed at 28 DPI. In contrast, in M. coucha, the cryptosporidiosis entered a chronic phase after 18 DPI and all the above-described pathological alterations of parasitised tissue became even much more obvious. Moreover, a massive increase in the volume of the lamina propria caused an enlarged distance between individual affected gastric glands. |
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