Fig 1.
(A) Shows the orientation of the coronal sections used in this study. *: cysticercus; gray and white represent blue stained and clear capsules, respectively. (B) Coronal brain section showing the different cysticerci locations: Mc: Meningeal cysticercus, Cc: Corticomeningeal cysticercus and Pc: Parenchymal cysticercus. Me: Meninges. Pa: Parenchyma. WM: White matter. GM: Gray matter. (C) Corticomeningeal inflammatory response in parenchymal and meningeal tissue. a: lymphocyte, b: eosinophil, c: ephitelioid cell, d: giant multinucleated cell, e: astrocyte, f: healthy vessels, g: inflammated parenchymal vessel, h: inflammated parenchymal vessel with thick collagen layer, i: meningeal vessel, j: scolex.
Table 1.
Cysticercal location according to treatment group.
Table 2.
ISC and cysticercal damage characteristics by location groups according to treatment.
Fig 2.
Inflammatory stages in parenchymal and meningeal cysticerci.
(A), (B), (C) and (D) are IS1, IS2, IS3 and IS4 in parenchymal tissue, respectively. Collagen and number of cells tend to increase with the degree of inflammation, as previously described by Alvarez [24]. (E), (F) and (G) are examples of IS1, IS2 and IS3 in meningeal tissue, respectively. The collagenous areas in meningeal tissue are usually thinner than in parenchymal tissue and the number of inflammatory cells are decreased compared to the parenchyma tissue. (H) Shows inflamed meningeal vessels—note the inflammatory cells surrounding the vessels (All pictures are from Haematoxylin and eosin stain slides: 400X; bar: 50 μm).
Fig 3.
Histological changes in corticomeningeal cysticerci before and after treatment.
(A) Untreated (D0) corticomeningeal cysticercus. The figure shows IS2 in both parenchyma and meninges region. IS3 is absent from both regions. (B) Treated (D5) corticomeningeal cysticercus. Both regions present IS3, which has a larger extension in the parenchymal region than in the meningeal region. P: Parenchymal region. M: Meningeal region. C: Cysticercus. Arrows: Inflammatory stage grade 3 (IS3) limits. (All figures are from Haematoxylin and eosin stain slides. Main figures, right: 40X; bar: 500 μm. Amplified panels, left: 400X; bar: 50 μm).
Table 3.
Effect of cysticercal location on the association of treatment and disruption of the BBB.
Table 4.
Inflammation in corticomeningeal cysticerci (C) according to treatment and contact with parenchyma or meninges.
Table 5.
Stratified analysis for ISC for corticomeningeal cysticerci.