Efeitos da própolis em culturas de astrócitosi infectadas com Neospora caninum

Abstract

The neosporosis, a disease caused by Neospora caninum causes reproductive changes in cattle herds and neuromuscular disorders in dogs. The parasite infects and causes lesions in various tissues of the host, with a tropism for the central nervous system (CNS). There is no treatment for neosporosis, however several studies have been conducted using propolis because of its pharmacological actions, including antiprotozoa. Thus, the aim with this study was to evaluate the modulatory action of propolis in rat astrocytes in vitro cultures infected with N. caninum. Primary cultures of neonatal rat astrocytes were treated with 0.1% propolis from the 16th day after cultivation and infected with tachyzoites of N. caninum strain NC-Bahia, the 20th day of culture. After 60h of infection tests were conducted in order to ascertain mitochondrial metabolism, the activity of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), nitric oxide production and the total number of parasites. In cultures treated with 0.1% propolis we observed a significant reduction in parasite, and an increase in mitochondrial metabolism in the stability of the membranes and a high production of nitric oxide in the treated and infected cultures. Suggesting thereby that propolis may play a role antiprotozoan against N. caninum.