Figure 8. Additive antioxidant treatment prevents cognitive impairment after CM.

C57BL/6 (A and B) and SW mice (C and D) (n = 12–20/group) were infected with PbA or PyXL, respectively (10⁶ PRBC). As a control, one group was inoculated with the same number of uninfected RBC (n = 6/group). Starting on day 6 post infection, infected mice were divided into 2 groups and treated orally with chloroquine (25 mg/kg b.w.), chloroquine plus desferoxamine (DFX, 20 mg/kg b.w., i.p.), chloroquine plus N-acetylcysteine (NAC, 20 mg/kg b.w., i.p.) or with the combination of chloroquine/DFX/NAC for 7 days. On day 15 and 16 post-infection all the animals were submitted to open field task training and test sessions, respectively. Data are expressed as mean ± S.E.M. of crossings (A and C) and rearings (B and D) in training (gray bars) and test (black bars) sessions; *significant difference between groups in training and test sessions (p<0.05, Student's T test). Panels E–M ilustrate histological examinations (H&E staining) of different brain regions in non-infected (RBC), infected (PRBC, PbA 10⁶) and mice treated with the combination of chloroquine/DFX/NAC (PbA+Cq+AOX). E–G) cerebral cortex; H–J) hippocampus; K–M) and cerebellum. Microvascular congestion and plugging (arrows) were detected in all analyzed regions in PbA-infected mice, but were not seen in controls or treated animals rescued with chloroquine and additive antioxidants. Scale bar, 100 µm.