Toxoplasma gondii infection lower anxiety as measured in the plus-maze and social interaction tests in rats

González, L.; Rojnik, Belen; Urrea, Franklin; Urdaneta, Haideé; Petrosino, Pierina; Colasante, Cesare; Pino, Silvano; Hernández, Luís E.

doi:10.1016/j.bbr.2006.11.012

Cited by 93 publications

(118 citation statements)

References 56 publications

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“…PRU infected mice showed increased locomotor activity in the open field, In contrast; only ME49-infected mice exhibited decreased spontaneous alternations in the Y-maze, indicative of impaired spatial working memory. Infection with 100 and 1,000 tachyzoites increased plus-maze open arm exploration in a dose-related manner in Wistar Rats (Gonzalez et al 2007). …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effects of Toxoplasma gondii infection on anxiety, depression and ghrelin level in male rats

et al. 2014

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The aim of the present study was to determine the effects of Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) infection on anxiety, depression and ghrelin level in male rats. Twenty four male rats were assessed in two equal groups. T. gondii tachyzoite (ip) were injected in infected group and control group received (2 ml) physiological serum (ip). Elevated plus Maze and swimming tests were used to assess anxiety and depression in rats respectively. The ghrelin and T. gondii IgG serum levels were measured by enzyme immunoassay kits. The Student's t test and Pearson correlation coefficient were used. The ghrelin serum level was significantly lower in the infected rats than control (P = 0.03). There were no significant differences in the depression and anxiety behavior between two groups. However, here were no significant correlations between ghrelin level and anxiety or depression in rats. It seems that latent T. gondii infection decreases the ghrelin serum level but does not change anxiety and depression like behaviors.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This difference may be related in used parasite strain (Kannan et al 2010) rat strain (Gonzalez et al 2007) and host variations (Groër et al 2011(Groër et al , 2012. Kannan et al (2010) compared the effects of infection by two Type II strains of T. gondii, Prugniaud (PRU) and ME49, on mouse behavior.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Toxoplasma gondii infection on anxiety, depression and ghrelin level in male rats

et al. 2014

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“…indeed, a report indicates that T. gondii reduces anxiety in rats when tested with an exploration-based anxiety test, but not when a social interaction-based anxiety test is used (Gonzalez et al 2007); this distinction is certainly consonant with T. gondii's effects on the response to cat odours, in that increased exploration on the part of an infected rat would increase the likelihood of T. gondii completing its life cycle, whereas increased amounts of social interactions with other rats would not. Similarly, absence of effects in one learned fear task does not necessarily indicate that infection effects will not be discerned in other tests or if a different training sequence is used.…”

Section: Do the Behavioural Effects Then Reflect A Generalized Disrupmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Traditionally, glial cells are thought to play a supporting and nourishing role for electrically active neurons. In vitro and in vivo studies show that T. gondii invades glial cells with greater frequency than neurons (Peterson et al 1993, Halonen et al 1996, Gonzalez et al 2007). cysts containing T. gondii are distributed in a wide variety of brain regions, including areas important for olfaction, emotions, learning and hormone secretion (Gonzalez et al 2007, Vyas et al 2007a.…”

Section: What Are the Proximate Mechanisms?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Hence a very selective tropism on the part of the parasite is not indicated. However, the cysts are observed to occur more frequently in limbic structures like the amygdala and nucleus accumbens (Gonzalez et al 2007, Vyas et al 2007a), structures that play pivotal roles in modulating emotional processes. The role of the amygdala in mediating defensive behaviours has been very intensely studied.…”

Section: What Are the Proximate Mechanisms?mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Manipulation of host behaviour by Toxoplasma gondii: what is the minimum a proposed proximate mechanism should explain?

Vyas¹,

Sapolsky²

2010

FOLIA PARASIT

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Abstract:The behavioural manipulation hypothesis posits that parasites can change the behaviour of hosts to increase the reproductive fitness of the parasite. The protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii fits this description well. Sexual reproduction occurs in the cat intestine, from which highly stable oocysts are excreted in faeces. Grazing animals, including rodents, can then ingest these oocysts. The parasite has evolved the capacity to abolish the innate fear that rodents have of the odours of cats, and to convert that fear into an attraction. This presumably increases the likelihood of the rodent being predated, thereby completing the parasite's life cycle. The behavioural syndrome produced by T. gondii does not have any precedent in neuroscience research. This is not a case where the normal functioning of fear system have been altered. This is not even the case of the altering of fear towards predator odours, while leaving other kinds of fear intact. This is an unprecedented example of one component of the fear being eliminated (and replaced by a novel attraction), while appearing to leave other domains unchanged. An understanding of the neurobiological effects of T. gondii is beginning to emerge. One possibility is T. gondii's preferential localisation to, and effects within the amygdala; this is particularly intriguing, given the role of this brain structure in the normal fear response. Obviously, far more must be understood, and the unique behavioural effects of T. gondii put very demanding constraints on any hypothesis we formulate to explain proximate neurobiological mechanisms.

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A Double‐Edged Sword: Complement Component 3 in Toxoplasma gondii Infection

et al. 2019

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Sprague Dawley rats and Kunming (KM) mice are artificially infected with type II Toxoplasma gondii strain Prugniaud (Pru) to generate toxoplasmosis, which is a fatal disease mediated by T. gondii invasion of the central nervous system (CNS) by unknown mechanisms. The aim is to explore the mechanism of differential susceptibility of mice and rats to T. gondii infection. Therefore, a strategy of isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation (iTRAQ) is established to identify differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) in the rats’ and the mice's brains compared to the healthy groups. In KM mice, which is susceptible to T. gondii infection, complement component 3 (C3) is upregulated and the tight junction (TJ) pathway shows a disorder. It is presumed that T. gondii‐stimulated C3 disrupts the TJ of the blood–brain barrier in the CNS. This effect allows more T. gondii passing to the brain through the intercellular space.

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Toxoplasma gondii infection lower anxiety as measured in the plus-maze and social interaction tests in rats

Cited by 93 publications

References 56 publications

Effects of Toxoplasma gondii infection on anxiety, depression and ghrelin level in male rats

Effects of Toxoplasma gondii infection on anxiety, depression and ghrelin level in male rats

Manipulation of host behaviour by Toxoplasma gondii: what is the minimum a proposed proximate mechanism should explain?

A Double‐Edged Sword: Complement Component 3 in Toxoplasma gondii Infection

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