Avaliação da atividade anti-inflamatória do omega-3 rico em dha contra o desenvolvimento de malaria cerebral em modelo murino

Abstract

For decades, efforts have been focused on malaria elimination worldwide. Regardless, it is still a threatening disease for tropical and subtropical populations, causing thousands of child deaths every year. Once not properly treated, the severity of disease leads to the development of severe syndromes, such as cerebral malaria (CM), the main cause of death and cognitive sequelae in survival patients. In this sense, it is necessary the use of therapies that help to diminish the mortality/morbidity rates related to CM. Nowadays, there are still no adjuvant treatment specifics recommended to help with CM treatment, some studies are using anti-inflammatory molecules to alleviate the neurological damage caused by CM. Omega-3 molecules have antiinflammatory properties and are fundamental to neuronal system formation and for the protection of the nervous tissue cells. Considering its anti-inflammatory properties and the need for adjuvant therapy for MC treatment or prophylactic use, in this study, we aimed to evaluate the DHA-rich omega-3 effects (DHA rich omega-3) at the protection against the development of CM in a murine model. C57BL/6 mice were treated with 1,5, 3,0, and 6,0 g/kg of DHA, and after 15 days, were infected with P. berghei ANKA. The results showed that treated animals had higher percentages of survival following increasing dosages, but there was no effect of the treatment on the blood parasitaemia. Thus, we observe that DHA contained in fish oil has a promising effect on the development of CM when used prophylactically.