EARLY ANALYSIS OF CEREBELLAR MICROVASCULAR AND ASTROCYTIC DAMAGE BY SHIGA TOXIN 2

CLARA VALENTINA BERDASCO; JAN MARCOS KALINSKI; JORGE GOLDSTEIN

Congreso; Reunión Conjunta de Sociedades de Biociencias; 2017

Shiga Toxin 2 (Stx2) is secreted by enterohaemorragic Escherichia coli (EHEC) and produces damage in several organs of the human body, including the cerebellum. The toxin travels through the blood stream and reaches several organs. The objective of this work is to observe whether Stx2 reaches the parenchyma of the cerebellum, and once in, if it can produce cell damage. For this work, NIH male mice were used. They were divided and injected intravenously in two groups (n=4): 1ηg/mice of Stx2 or saline solution (control group). Two days after the toxin was injected, they were sacrificed and their brains were fixed with PFA 4%. Then, their cerebellums were extracted and cut in slices 20µm thick. They were then subjected to histofluorescence technique with lectins to determine the microvasculature profile, anti-GFAP (glial fibrillary acidic protein) to identify reactive astrocytes and anti-Stx2 to identify immunopositive Stx2 cells. The group treated with Stx2 showed a decrease in the area occupied by the microvasculature (18.27 ±0.57 AU control and 5.77 ±0.2 AU Stx2, in IOD) along with an increase in the expression levels of GFAP (20.27 ±0.54 AU control and 36.35 ±0.95 AU Stx2, in IOD) p