https://doi.org/10.33573/ujoh2021.02.116
Vitebsk State Order of Peoples Friendship Medical University, Republic of Belarus, Vitebsk
Abstract. Introduction. Toxoplasmosis is a disease caused by parasitization of toxoplasmas. It is known that the parasite-host relationship can be characterized by physical, chemical, toxic and mutagenic effects with the formation of an autoimmune process.
In the modern scientific literature, there is information that some protozoa can contribute to the development of blastomogenesis processes. As for toxoplasmas this issue has not been sufficiently studied.
To study the expression of the proto-oncogenes survivin (BIRC5), epidermal growth factor (ERBB-2/HER2-NEU), GLI, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and anti-oncogene TP53 in the tissues of experimental animals with toxoplasmosis.
Materials and methods of research. The experiment was carried out on 70 Wistar females weighing 170-220 grams.
In the first series, the expression of the proto-oncogenes survivin (BIRC5), epidermal growth factor (ErbB-2/HER2-Neu), GLI, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and anti-oncogene TP53 was determined in comparison with the reference genes β-actin (ACTB) and GAPDH by PCR analysis in the tissues of 10 healthy female rats (intact control, first series, liver, spleen, lungs, brain). Animals of series number two (60 animals) were used to elucidate the role of the parasite in carcinogenic processes by evaluating changes in the expression of the proto-oncogenes survivin (BIRC5), epidermal growth factor (ErbB-2/HER2-Neu), GLI 1, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and anti-oncogene TP53 in comparison with the reference genes β-actin (ACTB) and GAPDH in the tissues of orally invaded female rats depending on the development period toxoplasma. Females were infected at a dose of 50 toxoplasma tachysoites per 1 g of animal body weight (10,000 tachysoites per female). Animals were removed from the experiment under the influence of ether anesthesia on the 7th, 14th, 21st, 28th, 35th, 42nd day after infection («pure invasion») and biopsies of the liver, spleen, lungs, and brain were taken.
Gene expression was measured using Real-Time PCR.
Statistical processing of the obtained data was carried out using the program Statistica 10.0. The result was recorded in the form of mean and CI (M (95% CI). To obtain a reliable result, we used the Mann-Whitney U-test (Mann-Whitney) or the Kruskal-Wallis ANOVA analysis of variance. The differences were considered significant at a significance level of less than 0.05 (p<0.05).
Results. In experimental rats, the expression of the proto-oncogenes survivin (BIRC5), epidermal growth factor (ErbB-2/HER2-Neu), GLI and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) increased in all the organs studied (liver, spleen, lungs, and brain).
Conclusions. Toxoplasma can cause an increase in the expression of the proto-oncogenes survivin (BIRC5), epidermal growth factor (ErbB-2/HER2-Neu), GLI, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and reduce the expression of the anti-oncogene TP53 in liver, spleen, lung, and brain tissues.
Key words: toxoplasma, expression, proto-oncogenes, rats.