The skeletal muscles of mice infected with Plasmodium berghei and Plasmodium chabaudi reveal a crosstalk between lipid mediators and gene expression

BACKGROUND: Malaria is one of the most prevalent infectious disease in the world with 3.2 billion humans at risk. Malaria causes splenomegaly and damage in other organs including skeletal muscles. Skeletal muscles comprise nearly 50% of the human body and are largely responsible for the regulation and modulation of overall metabolism. It is essential to understand how malaria damages muscles in order to develop effective preventive measures and/or treatments. Using a pre-clinical animal model, the potential molecular mechanisms of Plasmodium infection affecting skeletal muscles of mice were investigated. METHODS: Mouse Signal Transduction Pathway Finder PCR Array was used to monitor gene expression changes of 10 essential signalling pathways in skeletal muscles from mice infected with Plasmodium berghei and Plasmodium chabaudi. Then, a new targeted-lipidomic approach using liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) to profile 158 lipid signalling mediators (LMs), mostly eicosanoids derived from arachidonic acid (AA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), was applied. Finally, 16 key LMs directly associated with inflammation, oxidative stress, and tissue healing in skeletal muscles, were quantified. RESULTS: The results showed that the expression of key genes altered by Plasmodium infection is associated with inflammation, oxidative stress, and atrophy. In support to gene profiling results, lipidomics revealed higher concentrations of LMs in skeletal muscles directly related to inflammatory responses, while on the levels of LMs crucial in resolving inflammation and tissue repair reduced significantly. CONCLUSION: The results provide new insights into the molecular mechanisms of malaria-induced muscle damage and revealed a potential mechanism modulating inflammation in malarial muscles. These pre-clinical studies should help with future clinical studies in humans aimed at monitoring of disease progression and development of specific interventions for the prevention and mitigation of long-term chronic effects on skeletal muscle function.