Table 1.
Primers used in the study.
Figure 1.
A. Body weight gain (% initial weight) from experimental uninfected and undernourished groups under a low protein diet. APOE 4/4 targeted replacement (APOE 4/4 TR) mice (n = 17) showed 643 a better growth response in comparison with APOE 3/3 targeted replacement (APOE 3/3 TR) mice (n = 8). B. Body weight gain (% initial infection weight) from experimental mice challenged by a compounded malnutrition and Cryptosporidium parvum insult. Undernourished mice were orally inoculated with 107- unexcysted oocysts diluted in 100 µl of PBS. APOE deficient mice show impaired growth following Cryptosporidium parvum infection as compared to the other groups. Results are shown as mean ±SEM.
Figure 2.
Fecal shedding of parasites in weaned undernourished C57BL/6 mice orally inoculated with 107-unexcysted Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts per mouse (given in100 µL of PBS) on day 7 after the onset of the low protein diet.
Results are shown in a log scale a mean±SEM. Cryptosporidium parvum stool oocyst shedding was determined by qRT PCR. Data were expressed as number of parasites per miligram of stool and percentage and number of infected mice with measurable oocyst shedding per day after Cryptosporidium parvum challenge. N above the bars means the number of mice still showing oocyst shedding.
Figure 3.
A. Representative ileal histology from orally Cryptosporidium parvum infected mice. Wild-type, APOE knock-out, and APOE targeted replacement mice (APOE 3/3 TR and APOE 4/4 TR) were fed with a low protein diet during 7 days then infected with 107-unexcysted Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts and euthanized seven days after infection. H&E ×400. Scale bar 10 µM. B. Ileal villus height; C. crypt depth, and D. villus-crypt ratio from wild-type, APOE knock-out, and APOE targeted replacement mice (APOE 3/3 TR and APOE 4/4 TR). Morphometrics was done from hematoxylin and eosin stained-sections in at least four animals per group at low magnification. Data are presented as mean±SEM. Comparisons were performed by Students unpaired T test. Villi and crypts were measured only when their full longitudinal axis was found.
Table 2.
Lipid profile of experimental undernourished mice following Cryposporidium parvum infection (mice orally infected with 107 unexcysted oocysts).
Figure 4.
Luminex assays from experimental mice for the following ileal pro-inflammatory cytokines: (A) Interleukin 1-β; (B) Interleukin-17; (C) Interferon-gamma; and (D) Tumor necrosis factor alpha.
Experimental mice were challenged by a compounded malnutrition and Cryptosporidium parvum insult and samples were harvest on day 7 post-C. parvum inoculum. Wild-type, APOE knock-out, and APOE targeted replacement mice (APOE 3/3 TR and APOE 4/4 TR) were orally inoculated with 107-unexcysted oocysts diluted in 100 µl of PBS. Groups have at least 4 per groups and the results are shown as mean ±SEM and are expressed in pg/ml. MNC = uninfected undernouorished control group. MNI = undernourished infected group.
Figure 5.
Quantitative real-time PCR assays from experimental mice for the following ileal mRNA transcripts: (A) cationic amino acid transporter (CAT-1); (B) arginase 1; (C) Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9); and (D) Inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS).
Experimental mice were challenged by a compounded malnutrition and Cryptosporidium parvum insult and samples were harvested on day 7 post-C. parvum inoculum. Wild-type, APOE knockout, and APOE targeted replacement mice (APOE 3/3 TR and APOE 4/4 TR) were orally inoculated with 107- unexcysted oocysts diluted in 100 µl of PBS. Groups have at least 4 per groups and the results are shown as mean ±SEM and expressed after β-actin normalization.