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Cryptic stage of sleeping-sickness trypanosome developing in choroid plexus epithelial cells
British Medical Journal (Clinical Research Ed.)
|November 13, 1982
Summary
The choroid plexus ependymal cells are identified as the site for Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense replication. These cells facilitate the cryptic stage of sleeping sickness, enabling parasite re-entry into the bloodstream.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Parasitology
- Cell Biology
Background:
- The blood-brain barrier (BBB) protects the central nervous system from pathogens.
- Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense causes sleeping sickness, a potentially fatal parasitic disease.
- The precise location of the parasite's cryptic stage within the host remains incompletely understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the role of the choroid plexus in the pathogenesis of Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense infection.
- To identify the cellular mechanisms by which trypanosomes interact with the blood-brain barrier.
Main Methods:
- Electron microscopy was used to examine the choroid plexus of infected rats.
- Ultrastructural analysis focused on the interaction between trypomastigotes and ependymal cells.
Main Results:
- Trypomastigotes were observed penetrating and dividing within ependymal cells of the choroid plexus.
- Degeneration of ependymal cells led to the release of trypanosomes into the perivascular space.
- Re-entry into the bloodstream was exclusively observed from the brain and its surrounding membranes.
Conclusions:
- Ependymal cells of the choroid plexus serve as the site for the cryptic replication stage of Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense.
- This mechanism explains the parasite's persistence and re-emergence into circulation.
- The choroid plexus is a critical interface for Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense within the central nervous system.
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