Downregulation of the Central Noradrenergic System by <i>Toxoplasma gondii</i> Infection.

ABSTRACT: Toxoplasma gondii is associated with physiological effects in the host. Dysregulation of catecholamines in the central nervous system has previously been observed in chronically infected animals. In the study described here, the noradrenergic system was found to be suppressed with decreased levels of norepinephrine (NE) in brains of infected animals and in infected human and rat neural cells in vitro The mechanism responsible for the NE suppression was found to be downregulation of dopamine β-hydroxylase (DBH) gene expression, encoding the enzyme that synthesizes norepinephrine from dopamine, with downregulation observed in vitro and in infected brain tissue, particularly in the dorsal locus coeruleus/pons region. The downregulation was sex specific, with males express

SUBMITTER: Alsaady I 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6346129 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature