Trypanosoma evansi: Activities of adenine nucleotide degradation enzymes in cerebral cortex of infected rats

Oliveira, Camila B.; Spanevello, Rosélia; Da Silva, Aleksandro S.; Souza, Viviane C.G.; Pimentel, Victor C.; Thomé, Gustavo R.; Schetinger, Maria Rosa; Lopes, Sonia T.A.; Leal, Daniela B.R.; Monteiro, Silvia G.

Trypanosoma evansi: Activities of adenine nucleotide degradation enzymes in cerebral cortex of infected rats

2011

This study aimed to evaluate the activities of the ectoenzymes NTPDase and 5′-nucleotidase in synaptosomes from cerebral cortex of rats experimentally infected with Trypanosoma evansi. The animals were divided in four groups (n=10) according to the time and degree of parasitemia (groups A, B, C and D). The animals from group A were euthanized on day 3 (low parasitemia), group B on day 5 (high parasitemia) and group C on day 15 (low parasitemia). Group D consisted of healthy rats (not-infected, n=15) and were divided in three periods (n=5) in order to compare with the infected groups. After euthanasia, cerebral cortex was removed for the preparation of synaptosomes and enzymatic assays. Group A showed no changes in enzymatic activities compared with control. The hydrolysis of ATP, ADP and AMP by the enzymes NTPDase and 5′-nucleotidase were increased (P<0.05) in group B (38%, 140% and 61%, respectively) when compared with control. In the group C it was observed a decreased (22%) hydrolysis of ATP when compared with control group. The activities of NTPDase and 5′-nucleotidase in synaptosomes alters the acute phase of the disease when the number of circulating parasites is high, thus the change observed is probably due to the parasitemia.

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