1.Histopathology of Brugia pahangi and Plasmodium berghei ANKA co-infection in the Gerbil (Meriones unguiculatus)
Junaid, O.Q ; Wong, K.T ; Khaw, L.T. ; Mahmud, R. ; Vythilingam, I.
Tropical Biomedicine 2018;35(4):981-998
Co-infection with multiple different parasites is a common phenomenon in both
human and animals. Among parasites that frequently co-infect the same hosts, are the
filarial worms and malaria parasites. Despite this, the mechanisms underlying the
interactions between these parasites is still relatively unexplored with very few studies
available on the resulting pathologies due to co-infection by filarial nematodes and malaria
parasites. Hence, this study investigated the histopathological effect of Brugia pahangi
and Plasmodium berghei ANKA (PbA) infections in gerbil host. Gerbils grouped into B.
pahangi-infected, PbA-infected, B. pahangi and PbA-coinfected, and uninfected control,
were necropsied at different time points of post PbA infections. Brugia pahangi infections
in the gerbils were first initiated by subcutaneous inoculation of 50 infective larvae, while
PbA infections were done by intraperitoneal injection of 106 parasitized red blood cells
after 70 days patent period of B. pahangi. Organs such as the lungs, kidneys, spleen, heart
and liver were harvested aseptically at the point of necropsy. There was significant
hepatosplenomegaly observed in both PbA-infected only and coinfected gerbils. The spleen,
liver and lungs were heavily pigmented. Both B. pahangi and PbA infections (mono and coinfections)
resulted in pulmonary edema, while glomerulonephritis was associated with
PbA infections. The presence of both parasites induced extramedullary hematopoiesis in
the spleen and liver. These findings suggest that the pathologies associated with coinfected
gerbils were synergistically induced by both B. pahangi and PbA infections.