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Updated: Jan 20, 2026
Isolation and Analysis of Brain-sequestered Leukocytes from Plasmodium berghei ANKA-infected Mice
Published on: January 2, 2013
Mice chronically fed a high-fat diet are resistant to malaria induced by Plasmodium berghei ANKA
Onésia Cristina Oliveira-Lima1, Natália Lourenço Almeida2, Camila Megale Almeida-Leite3
1Departamento de Farmacologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Goiás, Av. Esperança, s/n - Campus Samambaia, Goiânia, GO, 74690-900, Brazil.
Abstract:
C57BL/6 mice infected with Plasmodium berghei ANKA (PbA) develop neurological symptoms and die 6--7-day post-inoculation in the absence of high parasitemia. The effects of chronic intake of a high-fat diet on this process are largely unknown. In this study, we assessed the effect of a high-fat diet on the host-parasite response to malarial infection. Mice were fed ad libitum with either standard or a high-fat diet for 8 weeks and afterwards were infected with PbA. PbA-infected mice feeding a standard diet presented blood parasitemia, hepatic and cerebral histopathological alterations, and hepatic injury with increased hemozoin deposition in the liver. By contrast, these changes were not observed in the malaria high-fat diet group. In addition, mice fed a high-fat diet did not develop the expected neurological symptoms of cerebral malaria and were resistant to death. Taken together, our results indicate that chronic ingestion of high-fat diet prevents the development of experimental malaria induced by PbA injection, suggesting a relationship between a high-fat diet and malaria, which is an interesting subject for further study in humans.
Insights
A high-fat diet may protect against experimental cerebral malaria. Mice on a high-fat diet resisted neurological symptoms and death from Plasmodium berghei ANKA infection, unlike control mice.
Area of Science:
- Immunology
- Nutritional Science
- Parasitology
Background:
- Cerebral malaria is a severe complication of Plasmodium infection, often fatal in C57BL/6 mice.
- The impact of chronic high-fat diet on experimental cerebral malaria is not well understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the effect of a long-term high-fat diet on the host-parasite response in Plasmodium berghei ANKA-infected mice.
Main Methods:
- Mice were fed standard or high-fat diets for 8 weeks before Plasmodium berghei ANKA infection.
- Assessed parasitemia, histopathological changes (liver, brain), hepatic injury, hemozoin deposition, neurological symptoms, and survival.
Main Results:
- Standard diet group showed high parasitemia, liver/brain pathology, hepatic injury, and neurological symptoms, leading to death.
- High-fat diet group exhibited no significant pathology, neurological symptoms, or mortality, indicating resistance to experimental cerebral malaria.
Conclusions:
- Chronic high-fat diet consumption confers resistance to experimental cerebral malaria induced by Plasmodium berghei ANKA.
- This suggests a potential link between dietary fat intake and malaria pathogenesis, warranting further investigation in human studies.
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