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Expression of Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein (GFAP) and Histopathological Changes in Brains of Trypanosoma brucei brucei Experimentally Infected Rats
Author(s) -
Alawa Judith Nkiruka,
Maliki Joseph Simpa,
Tanko Yusuf,
Alawa Clement Innocent
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.31.1_supplement.745.2
Subject(s) - astrocytosis , glial fibrillary acidic protein , astrocyte , gliosis , biology , astrogliosis , pathology , hippocampus , striatum , gfap stain , immunohistochemistry , microbiology and biotechnology , immunology , central nervous system , neuroscience , medicine , dopamine
African trypanosomiasis, also known as sleeping sickness in humans which affects the brain, is characterized by alterations in the functions of brain regions. It is unknown if the disease affects the expression of Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein (GFAP) which is a marker for astroglia activation. Therefore, this study was aimed at investigating the astrocytic response and histopathological changes in the striatum and hippocampus of rats experimentally infected with Trypanosoma brucei brucei (Tbb). Immunohistochemical evaluation, demonstrated reactive astrocytosis characterized by dense staining of enlarged cell bodies (astrocyte hypertrophy) with distinct cell processes in the striatum and hippocampus. Histopathological changes in the striatum of infected rats showed neuronal degeneration characterized by chromatolysis and satellitosis. Hippocampus showed gliosis in the molecular layer while axonal spheroids were observed in the white matter indicative of degenerating neuronal process. Control rats did not show any of these signs. These results demonstrate that the disease alters the expression of GFAP indicative of astroglia activation thus suggests that the astroglia cells may mediate immune response during trypanosome infection. Support or Funding Information Ahmadu Bello University