BEHAVIORAL AND MEMORY CHANGES IN Mus musculus COINFECTED BY Toxocara canis AND Toxoplasma gondii

Several researchers have stated that parasites can alter the behavior of their hosts, in order to increase the transmission rate, principally when prey-predator relationships are a reliable way of infection transmission. The aim of this study was to verify the occurrence of changes in anxiety and sh...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Revista do Instituto de Medicina Tropical de São Paulo
Main Authors: Flávia Motta Corrêa, Pedro Paulo Chieffi, Susana A. Zevallos Lescano, Sergio Vieira dos Santos
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Universidade de São Paulo (USP) 2014
Subjects:
Mus musculus
Toxocara canis
Toxoplasma gondii
Concomitant infections
Behavior alterations
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine
RC955-962
Infectious and parasitic diseases
RC109-216
Arctic
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1590/S0036-46652014000400014
https://doaj.org/article/216fb6962de94bb89adea926eedf0e45
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Summary:Several researchers have stated that parasites can alter the behavior of their hosts, in order to increase the transmission rate, principally when prey-predator relationships are a reliable way of infection transmission. The aim of this study was to verify the occurrence of changes in anxiety and short-term memory patterns in experimentally infected Mus musculus by Toxocara canis and/or Toxoplasma gondii. Forty male Mus musculus (Balb/c) eight-week-old were divided into four groups of 10 mice each. One group was infected with 300 eggs of Toxocara canis; a second group was submitted to infection with 10 cysts of Toxoplasma gondii; a third group was concomitantly infected with both parasites with the same inoculums and the last group was maintained without infection. The anxiety levels were evaluated using an elevated plus maze and an actometer; the short-term memory was determined by a two-way active avoidance equipment. The determination of anxiety levels were conducted 40 and 70 days after infection and the short-term memory was evaluated 140 days after infection. Mice chronically infected by Toxoplasma gondii showed impaired learning and short-term memory, but no significant differences were found in mice infected by Toxocara canis or concomitantly infected by Toxocara canis and Toxoplasma gondii when compared to non infected mice.

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