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Akide Ndunge OB, Kilian N, Salman MM. Cerebral Malaria and Neuronal Implications of Plasmodium Falciparum Infection: From Mechanisms to Advanced Models. ADVANCED SCIENCE (WEINHEIM, BADEN-WURTTEMBERG, GERMANY) 2022; 9:e2202944. [PMID: 36300890 PMCID: PMC9798991 DOI: 10.1002/advs.202202944] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2022] [Revised: 09/22/2022] [Indexed: 06/01/2023]
Abstract
Reorganization of host red blood cells by the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum enables their sequestration via attachment to the microvasculature. This artificially increases the dwelling time of the infected red blood cells within inner organs such as the brain, which can lead to cerebral malaria. Cerebral malaria is the deadliest complication patients infected with P. falciparum can experience and still remains a major public health concern despite effective antimalarial therapies. Here, the current understanding of the effect of P. falciparum cytoadherence and their secreted proteins on structural features of the human blood-brain barrier and their involvement in the pathogenesis of cerebral malaria are highlighted. Advanced 2D and 3D in vitro models are further assessed to study this devastating interaction between parasite and host. A better understanding of the molecular mechanisms leading to neuronal and cognitive deficits in cerebral malaria will be pivotal in devising new strategies to treat and prevent blood-brain barrier dysfunction and subsequent neurological damage in patients with cerebral malaria.
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Affiliation(s)
- Oscar Bate Akide Ndunge
- Department of Internal MedicineSection of Infectious DiseasesYale University School of Medicine300 Cedar StreetNew HavenCT06510USA
| | - Nicole Kilian
- Centre for Infectious Diseases, ParasitologyHeidelberg University HospitalIm Neuenheimer Feld 32469120HeidelbergGermany
| | - Mootaz M. Salman
- Department of PhysiologyAnatomy and GeneticsUniversity of OxfordOxfordOX1 3QUUK
- Kavli Institute for NanoScience DiscoveryUniversity of OxfordOxfordUK
- Oxford Parkinson's Disease CentreUniversity of OxfordOxfordUK
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Wai CH, Jin J, Cyrklaff M, Genoud C, Funaya C, Sattler J, Maceski A, Meier S, Heiland S, Lanzer M, Frischknecht F, Kuhle J, Bendszus M, Hoffmann A. Neurofilament light chain plasma levels are associated with area of brain damage in experimental cerebral malaria. Sci Rep 2022; 12:10726. [PMID: 35750882 PMCID: PMC9232608 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-14291-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/17/2022] [Accepted: 06/03/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Neurofilament light chain (NfL), released during central nervous injury, has evolved as a powerful serum marker of disease severity in many neurological disorders, including infectious diseases. So far NfL has not been assessed in cerebral malaria in human or its rodent model experimental cerebral malaria (ECM), a disease that can lead to fatal brain edema or reversible brain edema. In this study we assessed if NfL serum levels can also grade disease severity in an ECM mouse model with reversible (n = 11) and irreversible edema (n = 10). Blood–brain-barrier disruption and brain volume were determined by magnetic resonance imaging. Neurofilament density volume as well as structural integrity were examined by electron microscopy in regions of most severe brain damage (olfactory bulb (OB), cortex and brainstem). NfL plasma levels in mice with irreversible edema (317.0 ± 45.01 pg/ml) or reversible edema (528.3 ± 125.4 pg/ml) were significantly increased compared to controls (103.4 ± 25.78 pg/ml) by three to five fold, but did not differ significantly in mice with reversible or irreversible edema. In both reversible and irreversible edema, the brain region most affected was the OB with highest level of blood–brain-barrier disruption and most pronounced decrease in neurofilament density volume, which correlated with NfL plasma levels (r = − 0.68, p = 0.045). In cortical and brainstem regions neurofilament density was only decreased in mice with irreversible edema and strongest in the brainstem. In reversible edema NfL plasma levels, MRI findings and neurofilament volume density normalized at 3 months’ follow-up. In conclusion, NfL plasma levels are elevated during ECM confirming brain damage. However, NfL plasma levels fail short on reliably indicating on the final outcomes in the acute disease stage that could be either fatal or reversible. Increased levels of plasma NfL during the acute disease stage are thus likely driven by the anatomical location of brain damage, the olfactory bulb, a region that serves as cerebral draining pathway into the nasal lymphatics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chi Ho Wai
- Department of Neuroradiology, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany.,Centre for Infectious Diseases, Parasitology Unit, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Jessica Jin
- Department of Neuroradiology, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany.,Centre for Infectious Diseases, Parasitology Unit, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Marek Cyrklaff
- Centre for Infectious Diseases, Parasitology Unit, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Christel Genoud
- Electron Microscopy Facility, Faculty of Biology and Medicine, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Charlotta Funaya
- Electron Microscopy Core Facility, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Julia Sattler
- Centre for Infectious Diseases, Parasitology Unit, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Aleksandra Maceski
- Neurologic Clinic and Policlinic, MS Center and Research Center for Clinical Neuroimmunology and Neuroscience Basel (RC2NB), University Hospital Basel, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Stephanie Meier
- Neurologic Clinic and Policlinic, MS Center and Research Center for Clinical Neuroimmunology and Neuroscience Basel (RC2NB), University Hospital Basel, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Sabine Heiland
- Department of Neuroradiology, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Michael Lanzer
- Centre for Infectious Diseases, Parasitology Unit, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Friedrich Frischknecht
- Centre for Infectious Diseases, Parasitology Unit, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany.,German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Jens Kuhle
- Neurologic Clinic and Policlinic, MS Center and Research Center for Clinical Neuroimmunology and Neuroscience Basel (RC2NB), University Hospital Basel, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Martin Bendszus
- Department of Neuroradiology, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Angelika Hoffmann
- Department of Neuroradiology, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany. .,Department of Neuroradiology, University Institute of Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiology, University Hospital Bern, Inselspital, University of Bern, Freiburgstrasse, 3010, Bern, Switzerland.
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Jin J, Ba MA, Wai CH, Mohanty S, Sahu PK, Pattnaik R, Pirpamer L, Fischer M, Heiland S, Lanzer M, Frischknecht F, Mueller AK, Pfeil J, Majhi M, Cyrklaff M, Wassmer SC, Bendszus M, Hoffmann A. Transcellular blood-brain barrier disruption in malaria-induced reversible brain edema. Life Sci Alliance 2022; 5:5/6/e202201402. [PMID: 35260473 PMCID: PMC8905774 DOI: 10.26508/lsa.202201402] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/05/2022] [Revised: 02/19/2022] [Accepted: 02/22/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
We present how reversible edema can reliably be induced in experimental cerebral malaria and show that it is associated with transcellular blood–brain barrier disruption and delayed microhemorrhages. Brain swelling occurs in cerebral malaria (CM) and may either reverse or result in fatal outcome. It is currently unknown how brain swelling in CM reverses, as brain swelling at the acute stage is difficult to study in humans and animal models with reliable induction of reversible edema are not known. In this study, we show that reversible brain swelling in experimental murine CM can be induced reliably after single vaccination with radiation-attenuated sporozoites as proven by in vivo high-field magnetic resonance imaging. Our results provide evidence that brain swelling results from transcellular blood–brain barrier disruption (BBBD), as revealed by electron microscopy. This mechanism enables reversal of brain swelling but does not prevent persistent focal brain damage, evidenced by microhemorrhages, in areas of most severe BBBD. In adult CM patients magnetic resonance imaging demonstrate microhemorrhages in more than one third of patients with reversible edema, emphasizing similarities of the experimental model and human disease. Our data suggest that targeting transcellular BBBD may represent a promising adjunct therapeutic approach to reduce edema and may improve neurological outcome.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jessica Jin
- Department of Neuroradiology, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany.,Centre for Infectious Diseases, Parasitology Unit, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Mame Aida Ba
- Department of Neuroradiology, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany.,Centre for Infectious Diseases, Parasitology Unit, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Chi Ho Wai
- Department of Neuroradiology, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany.,Centre for Infectious Diseases, Parasitology Unit, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Sanjib Mohanty
- Center for the Study of Complex Malaria in India, Ispat General Hospital, Rourkela, India
| | - Praveen K Sahu
- Center for the Study of Complex Malaria in India, Ispat General Hospital, Rourkela, India
| | | | - Lukas Pirpamer
- Department of Neurology, Division of Neurogeriatrics, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria
| | - Manuel Fischer
- Department of Neuroradiology, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany.,Division of Experimental Radiology, Department of Neuroradiology, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Sabine Heiland
- Department of Neuroradiology, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany.,Division of Experimental Radiology, Department of Neuroradiology, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Michael Lanzer
- Centre for Infectious Diseases, Parasitology Unit, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Friedrich Frischknecht
- Centre for Infectious Diseases, Parasitology Unit, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany.,German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Ann-Kristin Mueller
- Centre for Infectious Diseases, Parasitology Unit, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany.,German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Johannes Pfeil
- Centre for Infectious Diseases, Parasitology Unit, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany.,German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), Heidelberg, Germany.,Center for Childhood and Adolescent Medicine, General Pediatrics, University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Megharay Majhi
- Department of Radiology, Ispat General Hospital, Rourkela, India
| | - Marek Cyrklaff
- Centre for Infectious Diseases, Parasitology Unit, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Samuel C Wassmer
- Department of Infection Biology, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK
| | - Martin Bendszus
- Department of Neuroradiology, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Angelika Hoffmann
- Department of Neuroradiology, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany .,Division of Experimental Radiology, Department of Neuroradiology, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany.,Centre for Infectious Diseases, Parasitology Unit, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany.,University Institute of Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiology, University Hospital Bern, Inselspital, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
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