Abstract
Neuropathogenesis is a feature of Neospora caninum infection. In order to explore this in the absence of acquired host immunity to the parasite, we have tested infection in locusts (Schistocerca gregaria). We show for the first time that locusts are permissive to intra-hemocoel infection with N. caninum tachyzoites. This was characterized by alteration in body weight, fecal output, hemoparasitemia, and sickness-related behavior. Infected locusts exhibited progressive signs of sickness leading to mortality. Also, N. caninum showed neuropathogenic affinity, induced histological changes in the brain and was able to replicate in the brain of infected locusts. Fatty acid (FA) profiling analysis of the brains by gas chromatography and multi-variate prediction models discriminated with high accuracy (98%) between the FA profiles of the infected and control locusts. DNA microarray gene expression profiling distinguished infected from control S. gregaria brain tissues on the basis of distinct differentially-expressed genes. These data indicate that locusts are permissible to infection with N. caninum and that the parasite retains its tropism for neural tissues in the invertebrate host. Locusts may facilitate preclinical testing of interventional strategies to inhibit the growth of N. caninum tachyzoites. Further studies on how N. caninum brings about changes in locust brain tissue are now warranted.
Highlights
Infection by the apicomplexan protozoan Neospora caninum is an important cause of infertility and abortion in cattle and neuromuscular disorders in dogs (Barber & Trees, 1996; Vonlaufen et al, 2002; Dubey, Schares & Ortega-Mora, 2007; Innes, 2007)
Locusts infected with larger number of N. caninum tachyzoites showed less survival time, where all locusts in G1, G2, G3 and G4 died by day 25, 23, 21 and 20 PI, respectively (Fig. 1)
Two locusts from the negative control group and one locust from the environmental control group had died during the course of the experiment, but their death was not due to infection with N. caninum based on a negative PCR result for brains of those three locusts
Summary
Infection by the apicomplexan protozoan Neospora caninum is an important cause of infertility and abortion in cattle and neuromuscular disorders in dogs (Barber & Trees, 1996; Vonlaufen et al, 2002; Dubey, Schares & Ortega-Mora, 2007; Innes, 2007). Studies of N. caninum infection and the resulting neuropathologies have been observed for in vivo vertebrate models, including: cats, mice, rats, gerbils and monkeys (Dubey, 1999; Collantes-Fernandez et al, 2004; Pinheiro et al, 2006; Bartley et al, 2007; Reichel & Ellis, 2009) These models suggested several molecules and mechanisms key to the establishment and progression of infection (Collantes-Fernandez et al, 2002; Vonlaufen et al, 2002), and allowed potential vaccinations for neosporosis to be assessed (Bartley et al, 2007)
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