La storia è questa: i topi infettati dal parassita Toxoplasma gondii (quello della toxoplasmosi) diventano imprudenti, quindi vengono più facilmente uccisi e mangiati dai gatti, consentendo al parassita stesso di completare il suo ciclo vitale. Ora questi ricercatori dell’Università di Leeds hanno scoperto che il meccanismo con cui il parassita ottiene questo risultato è inducendo un’iperproduzione del neurotrasmettitore dopamina. Tutto ciò non è irrilevante, perché il toxoplasma infetta anche gli umani (finora, di pensava, senza particolari conseguenze).
Brain parasite directly alters brain chemistry – University of Leeds
Research shows infection by the brain parasite Toxoplasma gondii, found in 10-20 per cent of the UK’s population, directly affects the production of dopamine, a key chemical messenger in the brain.
Findings from the University of Leeds research group are the first to demonstrate that a parasite found in the brain of mammals can affect dopamine levels.
Whilst the work has been carried out with rodents, lead investigator Dr Glenn McConkey of the University’s Faculty of Biological Sciences, believes that the findings could ultimately shed new light on treating human neurological disorders that are dopamine-related such as schizophrenia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and Parkinson’s disease.
This research may explain how these parasites, remarkably, manipulate rodents’ behaviour for their own advantage. Infected mice and rats lose their innate fear of cats, increasing the chances of being caught and eaten, which enables the parasite to return to its main host to complete its life cycle.
In this study, funded by the Stanley Medical Research Institute and Dunhill Medical Trust, the research team found that the parasite causes production and release of many times the normal amount of dopamine in infected brain cells.
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