Comparative study on the effect of cadmium and hydrocortisone treatment on the brain of rats experimentally infected with toxoplasma gondii

Abstract EN

This study was dedicated to detecting the effects of cadmium chloride and of cortisone on experimental infection with Toxoplasma gondii in rats through studying brain tissue.

Twenty-four adult albino male rats were used, divided into four groups, comprising: untreated control as group 1, group 2: infected with intraperitoneal injection of Toxoplasma gondii 80 tissue cysts per animal, group 3: infected with Toxoplasma gondii and treated with intraperitoneal injection of cadmium chloride 1.5 mg/kg once a week, group 4: infected with Toxoplasma gondii and treated with intramuscular injection of hydrocortisone in a dose 0.5 mg/kg once a week.

After 30 days of treatment for all groups, the animals were sacrificed, and the gross and histopathological examinations were performed on the brains of the rats.

The results revealed the presence of changes in the infected groups including appearance of toxoplasma tissue cysts in the grey matter, with mild to moderate perineuronal and periaxonal edema.

There were further changes observed in infected groups which treated with cadmium chloride including perineuronal satelletosis, perineuronal edema and demyelination in neuronal axons, otherwise the infected groups treated with cortisone did not show any noticeable difference from the group of infection only.

It is concluded that cadmium increase the intensity of occurrence of lesions induced by Toxoplasma gondii in the brain tissue of the rats, considering that all noticeable lesions ranged from mild to moderate in severity, and the differences between groups may be related to the nature of the pathogen used.