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The development of murine cerebral malaria does not require nitric oxide production

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 1999

N. FAVRE
Affiliation:
Department of Medical Parasitology, Swiss Tropical Institute, Basel, Switzerland Present address: Kanstonsspital Basel, Exp. Nephrologie, Basel, Switzerland.
B. RYFFEL
Affiliation:
Department of Immunology, Medical School, University of Cape Town, South Africa
W. RUDIN
Affiliation:
Department of Medical Parasitology, Swiss Tropical Institute, Basel, Switzerland

Abstract

Nitric oxide (NO) production has been suggested to be required for the development of cerebral malaria. However, the importance of this molecule for the appearance of this pathology is debated. To assess whether murine cerebral malaria is NO dependent, we investigated the course of blood-stage Plasmodium berghei ANKA (PbA) infections in inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS)-deficient mice. Parasitaemia, haematological alterations, survival and development of cerebral malaria were not affected by the lack of iNOS. To exclude a role of NO produced by other NOS, controls included NO suppression by oral administration of aminoguanidine (AG), a NOS inhibitor. As in iNOS-deficient mice, no difference in the parasitaemia course, survival and haematological values was observed after AG treatment. Our results indicate that NO production is not a crucial factor for the development of murine cerebral malaria.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
1999 Cambridge University Press

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