• Matheus D Baldissera, Carine F Souza, Thirssa H Grando, Karen L S Moreira, Andressa S Schafer, Luciana F Cossetin, Ana P T da Silva, Marcelo L da Veiga, Maria Izabel U M da Rocha, Lenita M Stefani, Aleksandro S da Silva, and Silvia G Monteiro.
• Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria (UFSM), Santa Maria, RS, Brazil. matheusd.biomed@yahoo.com.br.
• Naunyn Schmiedebergs Arch. Pharmacol. 2017 Feb 1; 390 (2): 139-148.

AbstractThe aim of this study was to investigate the effect of nerolidol-loaded nanospheres (N-NS) on the treatment of memory impairment caused by Trypanosoma evansi in mice, as well as oxidative stress, and Na+, K+-ATPase and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activities in brain tissue. Animals were submitted to behavioral tasks (inhibitory avoidance task and open-field test) 4 days postinfection (PI). Reactive oxygen species (ROS) and thiobarbituric acid-reactive substance (TBARS) levels and catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), Na+, K+-ATPase and AChE activities were measured on the fifth-day PI. T. evansi-infected mice showed memory deficit, increased ROS and TBARS levels and SOD and AChE activities, and decreased CAT and Na+, K+-ATPase activities compared to uninfected mice. N-NS prevented memory impairment and oxidative stress parameters (except SOD activity), while free nerolidol (N-F) restored only CAT activity. Also, N-NS treatment was able to prevent alterations in Na+, K+-ATPase and AChE activities caused by T. evansi infection. A significantly negative correlation was observed between memory and ROS production (p < 0.001; r = -0.941), as well as between memory and AChE activity (p < 0.05; r = -0.774). On the contrary, a significantly positive correlation between memory and Na+, K+-ATPase activity was observed (p < 0.01; r = 0.844). In conclusion, N-NS was able to reverse memory impairment and to prevent increased ROS and TBARS levels due to amelioration of Na+, K+-ATPase and AChE activities and to activation of the antioxidant enzymes, respectively. These results suggest that N-NS treatment may be a useful strategy to treat memory dysfunction and oxidative stress caused by T. evansi infection.

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