Structural changes in the jejunal mucosa of mice infected with Schistosoma mansoni, fed low or high protein diets

• Main Authors: Janira Lúcia Assumpção Couto, Haroldo da Silva Ferreira, Dinalva Bezerra da Rocha, Maria Eugênia Leite Duarte, Monica Lopes Assunção, Eridan de Medeiros Coutinho
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical (SBMT) 2002
• Subjects: Schistosoma mansoni; Undernutrition; Mice; Intestinal mucosa; Histomorphometry; Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine; RC955-962; Arctic
• Online Access: https://doaj.org/article/3101e11a0bca40a29cb685881fdd62d2

The effects of high and low-protein diets on the structure of the jejunal mucosa were studied in Schistosoma mansoni infected mice (morphology and histomorphometry). Weaning male albino mice were infected with 80 cercariae, fed with high (20%) or low-protein (5%) diets and compared to uninfected controls under the same conditions. Mice were sacrificed 12 weeks after infection. Animals submitted to a low-protein diet showed lower weight curves, mainly when infected. In the jejunal mucosa, finger-like villi were the predominant pattern among uninfected high-protein fed animals, while the infected ones showed leaf-shaped and flattened villi in most cases. Undernourished infected mice had 65.7% leaf-shaped villi. A significant increase in the number of goblet cells was seen in infected mice. A decrease in the number of absorptive cells was detected in undernourished mice, particularly in infected ones.