Murine Model of Neuroschistosomiasis Mansoni: Clinical, Histological and Magnetic Resonance Imaging Studies Thiago Andre Alves Fidelis 1,2 *, Patricia Parreiras 2 , Fernanda Tovar-Moll 3 , Fernanda Meireles 3 , Geraldo Brasileiro Filho 4 , Paulo Marcos Zech Coelho 2 and Jose Roberto Lambertucci 1 1 Division of Infectology and Tropical Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil 2 Schistosomiasis Laboratory, Rene Rachou Research Center, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil 3 CENABIO/Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 4 Department of Pathology, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil *Corresponding author: Thiago Andre Alves Fidelis, Physical Therapist, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Infectious diseases, Alfredo Balena avenue 190, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais 30130-100, Brazil, Tel: +55 31 994208520; Fax: +55 31 994208520; E-mail: tfidelis1@gmail.com Received date: June 01, 2018; Accepted date: August 17, 2018; Published date: August 24, 2018 Copyright: © 2018 Fidelis TAA, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Abstract The schistosomiasis mansoni infection is responsible for 3.6% of the worldwide estimated causes of death and the central nervous system can be affected. In humans, the eggs of this helminth have been found in the leptomeninges, cerebral cortex, basal ganglia, choroid plexus, cerebellum and spinal cord. Neurological manifestations, histhology and magnetic resonance imaging of neuroschistosomiasis mansoni in humans serve as our chief reference points for the examination of the experimental infections in murine model. In this study, experimental infection of S. mansoni cercariae in mice aims to demonstrate the presence of granulomas in the brain and correlate to the clinical, histologic, and magnetic resonance findings. Twenty five Swiss-webster mice were infected subcutaneously, and followed for 160 days post-infection. Another group of twenty five mice were not infected and kept as controls. Images were obtained in the different planes by magnetic resonance. Histological samples were stained by Hematoxilin and Eosin (HE) to examine S. mansoni eggs, granulomas and inflammatory lesions. The results showed neurological manifestations as head and chest tilt (to the left or right side), hemiparesis, ataxia, body contortion, loss of balance and spinning, induced by granulomas in several regions of the central nervous system, and vascular changes associated with haemorrages. The MRI indicated multiple irregular nodules dispersed associated with oedema. These findings indicate that the murine model subcutaneously infected by S. mansoni cercarie may be used for studying mechanisms leading to human neuroschistosomiasis. Keywords: Schistosomiasis; Schistosomiasis mansoni; Neuroschistosomiasis murine model; Encephalitis; Neuroinfection Introduction Te World Health Organization estimates that between 200 and 300 million people worldwide are infected with Schistosoma spp. and that 800 million people in the world are at risk of infection. In Brazil, approximately 2.5 million people are infected with Schistosoma mansoni and 30 million are exposed to infection [1,2]. Central Nervous System (CNS) involvement in schistosomiasis can occur during acute primary infections, but as the disease becomes chronic, neurological complications can occur as the newly forming of granulomas are smaller, shrunken and fbrotic [2,3]. In the year of 1944, 800 people from Asia continent were attended at Moore General Hospital (North Caroline-United States of America) and approximately 2% (160 people) developed cerebral complications attributed to schistosomiasis japonica [4-8]. In Zimbabwe, Gelfand (1950) found S. haematobium eggs in the digested brains of 56% (28 people) of 50 patients with S. haematobium infection of the bladder. Alves (1958) found that in 28% of 150 unselected autopsy cases S. haematobium eggs were detected in the brain [9-11]. It is estimated that the incidence of neurological complications varies between 0.3% and 4% of schistosomiasis mansoni [2]. Te incidence of encephalic demage caused by S. mansoni in humans is unknown. Neurological manifestations of schistosomiasis are caused by an increase in intracranial pressure, and the focal signs are triggered by the tumor masses produced by granulomas, ofen in the productive phase with slight fbrosis, which suggested the chronic phase of infection. Te initial signs and symptoms include headache, focal or generalized seizures, ataxia, nystagmus, nausea and vomiting, intracranial hypertension and various neurological defcits [2]. For many years, we have observed evidence of brain disease (hemiplegia, spinning and urinary retention) in mice infected with S. mansoni, but these mice were considered to have other diseases, such as labyrinthitis or cerebral infection [2]. Tus, neuromotor manifestations presented by infected animals should characterize neurological damage caused by S. mansoni eggs in the murine model. Terefore, the relationship between histological fndings and the neurological signs of encephalic involvement, such as hemiparesia, spinning, head tilt, chest tilt, ataxia, and loss of balance could be established in this study. Aloe et al. described eggs, both with and without granuloma formation, in CD-1 mice infected with 60 S. mansoni cercariae (Puerto Rican strain). However, the mice did not present the signs of brain disease. Additionally, Silva et al. observed very few eggs in the brains of A d v a n c e d T e c h n i q u e s i n B i o l o g y & M e d i c i n e ISSN: 2379-1764 Advanced Techniques in Biology & Medicine Fidelis et al., Adv Tech Biol Med 2018, 6:3 DOI: 10.4172/2379-1764.1000 263 Research Article Open Access Adv Tech Biol Med, an open access journal ISSN:2379-1764 Volume 6 • Issue 3 • 1000263