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Impact of sex differences in brain response to infection with Plasmodium berghei

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Abstract

Malaria is considered to be one of the most prevalent diseases in the world. Severity of the disease between males and females is very important in clinical research areas. In this study, we investigated the impact of sex differences in brain response to infection with Plasmodium berghei. Male and female C57Bl/6 mice were infected with P. berghei-infected erythrocytes. The infection induced a significant change in weight loss in males (−7.2 % ± 0.5) than females (−4.9 % ± 0.6). The maximum parasitemia reached about 15 % at day 9 postinfection. Also, P. berghei infection caused histopathological changes in the brain of mice. These changes were in the form of inflammation, hemorrhage, and structural changes in Purkinje cells. In addition, P. berghei was able to induce a marked oxidative damage in mice brain. The infection induced a significant increase in male brain glutathione than females while the brain catalase level was significantly increased in infected females than infected males. Moreover, the change in brain neurotransmitters, dopamine, epinephrine, norepinephrine, and serotonin, was more in infected males than infected females. At the molecular level, P. berghei was able to induce upregulations of Adam23, Cabp1, Cacnb4, Glrb, and Vdac3-mRNA in the brain of mice. These genes were significantly upregulated in infected males than in infected females. In general, P. berghei could induce structural, biochemical, and molecular alterations in mice brain. Severity of these alterations was different according to sex of mice.

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Acknowledgments

The authors extend appreciations to the Deanship of Scientific Research at King Saud University for funding the work through the research group project no. RGP-198.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Zoology, College of Science, King Saud University, P.O. Box: 2455, Riyadh, 11451, Saudi Arabia

    Mohamed A. Dkhil, Esam M. Al-Shaebi, Mahmoud Y. Lubbad & Saleh Al-Quraishy

  2. Department of Zoology and Entomology, Faculty of Science, Helwan University, Cairo, Egypt

    Mohamed A. Dkhil

  3. General Directorate of Environmental and Occupational Health, Public Health Agency, Ministry of Health, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

    Mahmoud Y. Lubbad

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  1. Mohamed A. Dkhil
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  2. Esam M. Al-Shaebi
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  3. Mahmoud Y. Lubbad
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  4. Saleh Al-Quraishy
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Correspondence to Mohamed A. Dkhil.

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Figure S1

Survival of infected male and infected female C57BL/6 mice with Plasmodium berghei. n = 15. (JPEG 289 kb)

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Dkhil, M.A., Al-Shaebi, E.M., Lubbad, M.Y. et al. Impact of sex differences in brain response to infection with Plasmodium berghei . Parasitol Res 115, 415–422 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-015-4803-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-015-4803-6

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