Hasballah, Kartini
(2010)
Investigating Interleukin-18 Involvement And Its Modulatory Effects On Major Cytokines Release During Malaria Infection In Mice.
PhD thesis, Universiti Sains Malaysia.
Abstract
IL-18 is a potent proinflammatory cytokine that plays multiple roles in immune
responses and inflammatory activities in many disease conditions, but its involvement in
the underlying pathogenesis of malaria has not been fully elucidated. In this study, the
role and involvement of IL-18 during malaria infection was investigated and the impact
of its pathway modulation on the course of the infection and the major cytokines
released during the infection was preliminary evaluated. Plasmodium berghei ANKA
infection in ICR mice were used as malaria model throughout the study. The animals
were inoculated intravenously with 2 x 107 parasitized red blood cells (PRBCs) obtained
from a donor mouse infected with the parasite. The control animals received an
equivalent volume and dilution (0.2 mL, i.v.) of normal mouse RBC. Results
demonstrated that the malarial mice showed sick behavioral changes on day 4 after
inoculation when the levels of parasitaemia were ≥ 60% and then continued to increase
until circulating parasitaemia reached around 80%. The infected mice succumbed to
hyperparasitaemia 5-6 days after infection. ICR mice also showed significant decrease in
body temperature and body weight during the peak parasitaemia. IL-18 concentrations in
the plasma determined by means of ELISA, showed significant elevation throughout the
infection and a positive correlation with parasitaemia development.
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