NEUROINFLAMMATORY IMPLICATIONS OF SCHISTOSOMA-MANSONI INFECTION - NEWINFORMATION FROM THE MOUSE MODEL

Schistosoma mansoni infection is known to induce granulomas, not only in the liver and intestine, but also in the brain, resulting in neurop athological and psychiatric disorders. In the past, the interaction be tween Schistosoma mansoni infection and the nervous system has receive d little attention. Here, Luigi Aloe and Marco Fiore discuss recent fi ndings from experimental Schistosoma mansoni infection in the mouse ne rvous system showing that brain granulomas are associated with a signi ficant alteration in the constitutive expression of nerve growth facto r, a neurotrophic factor that plays an essential role in growth and di fferentiation and in preventing neuronal damage. These findings sugges t that the neuropathological dysfunctions in neuroschistosomiasis may be linked to changes in the basal levels and/or activity of neurotroph ic factors caused by local formation of granulomas.