MECHANISMS OF KIDNEY DAMAGE CAUSED BY MURINE MALARIA INFECTION

Abstract

The thesis investigates four important pathogenetic mechanisms of nephritis caused by murine malaria infection: 1. The importance of humeral immune reactions in the initiation of glomerulonephritis 2. The involvement of cellular immune responses in malarial nephritis 3. The possible role of adhesion molecules in the pathogenesis of nephritis 4. The potential role of the cytokine network in the pathogenesis of glomerulonephritis and tubulointerstitial nephritis associated with murine malaria infection. Renal tissues from 30 cases of C57BL/6J mice infected with Plasmodium berghei ANKA strain, comprising of 5 groups of infected animals sacrificed on days 5, 8-10, 15, 20; and 6 normal controls, were studied for renal morphological changes under light and electron microscopy; for specific antibody staining against humoral and cellular immune markers, adhesion molecules and cytokines by immunohistochemistry, and by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for analysis of cytokine specific mRNA transcription in the kidneys. The results of these studies were useful for a better understanding of the pathogenesis of nephritis associated with malarial infections. Morphological abnormalities in the infected kidneys were observed from day 5 post-infection and onwards, characterised by parasitized erythrocytes and