ABSTRACT
The role of eosinophils in the pathophysiology of Angiostrongylus cantonensis infections was investigated in nonpermissive (guinea pig) and permissive (rat) hosts. Neurological symptoms similar to the Gordon phenomenon (ataxia, tremor, paralysis) together with a loss of Purkinje cells in the cerebellum were observed after intracraneal injection of human eosinophil extracts or after infection with A. cantonensis, only in guinea pigs and not in rats. Blood eosinophilia as well as eosinophil numbers present in the cerebellum and in the cerebrospinal fluid were higher in guinea pigs than in rats, at all times after infection with A. cantonensis. Increased levels of cytotoxicity toward L3 larvae in vitro were obtained in the presence of guinea pig eosinophils and IgE antibodies, rather than with the corresponding rat effector system. The detection of one eosinophil granule component, the eosinophil peroxidase, in the cerebrospinal fluid from infected guinea pigs but not from rats suggested that in nonpermissive hosts, neurological disorders, similar to the previously described Gordon phenomenon, might be due to eosinophil neurotoxins released after interaction of eosinophils with the parasites.
Subject(s)
Central Nervous System Diseases/immunology , Eosinophils/immunology , Nematode Infections/immunology , Ribonucleases , Angiostrongylus/immunology , Animals , Blood Proteins/cerebrospinal fluid , Central Nervous System Diseases/blood , Central Nervous System Diseases/pathology , Cerebellum/pathology , Eosinophil Granule Proteins , Eosinophil Peroxidase , Eosinophilia/blood , Eosinophilia/cerebrospinal fluid , Eosinophilia/immunology , Eosinophils/enzymology , Guinea Pigs , Humans , Immunoglobulin E/immunology , Male , Nematode Infections/blood , Nematode Infections/pathology , Peroxidases/cerebrospinal fluid , Rats , SyndromeABSTRACT
Horseradish peroxidase was detected in the choroid plexus capillary 5 min after the onset of a 2 1/2-min injection of 7.5 microliter of 40% solution into the cisterna cerebellomedullaris in mice. Venous capillaries in the capillary beds of circumventricular organs including the choroid plexus were indicated as sites of cerebrospinal fluid absorption.
Subject(s)
Choroid Plexus/blood supply , Horseradish Peroxidase/cerebrospinal fluid , Peroxidases/cerebrospinal fluid , Animals , Axonal Transport , Capillaries/cytology , Capillaries/ultrastructure , Horseradish Peroxidase/blood , Mice , Mice, Inbred StrainsABSTRACT
Glutathione peroxidase activity was investigated in human cerebrospinal fluid. CSF was obtained from 23 male adult patients with dementia, cerebrovascular disease and multiple sclerosis. The mean glutathione peroxidase activity in the CSF was 6.2 nmol NADPH oxidized min-1 . mg-1 protein +/- 0.6 S.E.M. No differences in the activities were observed in these neurological diseases suggesting that this value may reflect normal glutathione peroxidase activity in human CSF. The age or the protein concentration in CSF did not correlate significantly with glutathione peroxidase activity in CSF.
