Embryology Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Embryology, including details on stem cells, reproduction, transplants, cloning. | ||||||||
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Ocular toxoplasmosis signs in mice embryo.Tedesco RC, Vitor RW, Brandão GP, Calabrese KS Departamento de Ultra-estrutura e Biologia Celular, Laboratório de Biologia Estrutural, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Avenida Brasil, 4365, CEP 21040-900 Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil; Departamento de Morfologia, Disciplina de Anatomia Descritiva e Topográfica da Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Escola Paulista de Medicina, Rua Botucatu, 740, CEP 04023-900 São Paulo, SP, Brazil. Ocular toxoplasmosis is present in 20% of infected immunocompetent individuals. Toxoplasmosis is the most common cause of posterior uveitis in immunocompetent subjects and congenital toxoplasmosis transmission was the first parasite to be linked to human lesions in the eye. An experimental model for congenital ocular toxoplasmosis was developed in C57BL/6 mice with the purpose to evaluate Toxoplasma induced ocular pathology during fetal life. Toxoplasma gondii, ME-49 strain, was used to infect pregnant females. Histological analysis of pre-natal fetal eyes from infected female mice, did not show parasite infestation, however, alterations were observed in the outer nuclear layer (ONL) and in the inner nuclear layers (INL) of the retina. Edema was also observed, characterized by the increase of interstitial spaces forming lacunae between the ONL and INL cells and a net of vessels associated with an intense inflammatory infiltrate. These histological observations suggest that ocular lesions are not delayed manifestations of toxoplasmosis. The eye was affected in the initial phase of disease, and these alterations were of similar nature as those observed in mice at later stages of infection. Published 28 June 2007 in Micron.
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