ABSTRACT
Abstract INTRODUCTION Suckling by schistosomotic mice improves anti-ovalbumin (OA) antibody production, while delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) remains unaffected. This property of milk from schistosomotic mice was investigated in IL-12/IL-23-deficient mice (IL-12p40KO). METHODS We compared anti-OA DTH, IgG2a and cytokines in wild-type and IL-12p40KO mice suckled by infected (SIM) or non-infected (CONTROL) mothers. RESULTS SIM mice showed similar intensity and eosinophils in the DTH, which was abolished in IL-12p40KO and IL-12p40KO-SIM mice. In IL-12p40KO-SIM, IgG2a and TGF-β levels were higher, but IL-6 levels were lower. CONCLUSIONS Milk from schistosomotic mothers may evoke IgG2a without eliciting DTH in IL-12/IL-23 deficiencies, by changing TGF-β/IL-6 levels.
Subject(s)
Humans , Animals , Female , Schistosoma mansoni , Interleukin-12 , Immunoglobulin G , Transforming Growth Factor beta , Interleukin-23 , Mice , MothersABSTRACT
Undernourished mice infected (UI) submitted to low and long-lasting infections by Schistosoma mansoni are unable to develop the hepatic periportal fibrosis that is equivalent to Symmers’ fibrosis in humans. In this report, the effects of the host’s nutritional status on parasite (worm load, egg viability and maturation) and host (growth curves, biology, collagen synthesis and characteristics of the immunological response) were studied and these are considered as interdependent factors influencing the amount and distribution of fibrous tissue in hepatic periovular granulomas and portal spaces. The nutritional status of the host influenced the low body weight and low parasite burden detected in UI mice as well as the number, viability and maturation of released eggs. The reduced oviposition and increased number of degenerated or dead eggs were associated with low protein synthesis detected in deficient hosts, which likely induced the observed decrease in transformation growth factor (TGF)-β1 and liver collagen. Despite the reduced number of mature eggs in UI mice, the activation of TGF-β1 and hepatic stellate cells occurred regardless of the unviability of most miracidia, due to stimulation by fibrogenic proteins and eggshell glycoproteins. However, changes in the repair mechanisms influenced by the nutritional status in deficient animals may account for the decreased liver collagen detected in the present study.
Subject(s)
Animals , Mice , Collagen/biosynthesis , Liver Cirrhosis/parasitology , Liver/pathology , Malnutrition/parasitology , Schistosoma mansoni/immunology , Transforming Growth Factor beta1 , Acute-Phase Reaction/etiology , Chronic Disease , Disease Models, Animal , Eggs/analysis , Fluorescent Antibody Technique , Granuloma, Foreign-Body/parasitology , Intestines/parasitology , Liver/parasitology , Malnutrition/complications , Nutritional Status , Oviposition/immunology , Primary Cell Culture , Parasitemia/parasitology , Schistosomiasis mansoni/complications , Schistosomiasis mansoni/pathologyABSTRACT
Camundongos C57Bl/10 do sexo masculino, infectados com Schistosoma mansoni foram distribuídos nos grupos misto, profilático e curativo. Cultura de Zymomonas mobilis foi administrada oralmente aos camundongos. Uma proteção de 61% foi observada no grupo curativo (p<0,05). Os estudos histopatológicos dos fígados e intestinos mostraram resultados similares.
Subject(s)
Animals , Male , Mice , Adjuvants, Immunologic , Probiotics , Schistosoma mansoni , Schistosomiasis mansoni , Zymomonas , Intestines , Liver , Mice, Inbred C57BLABSTRACT
Os antígenos recombinantes Cytoplasmic Repetitive Antigen e Flagellar Repetitive Antigen de Trypanosoma cruzi foram inoculados em camundongos BALB/c e C57BL/6 e o seu efeito avaliado a nível hematológico e histopatológico. Os resultados mostraram que o padrão histológico normal dos órgãos e o perfil hematológico dos camundongos não foram modificados sugerindo que esses antígenos não parecem causar dano ao animal.
Subject(s)
Animals , Male , Mice , Antigens, Protozoan , Chagas Disease , Recombinant Proteins , Trypanosoma cruzi , Antigens, Protozoan , Chagas Disease , Mice, Inbred BALB C , Mice, Inbred C57BL , Recombinant ProteinsABSTRACT
The effects of high and low-protein diets on the structure of the jejunal mucosa were studied in Schistosoma mansoni infected mice (morphology and histomorphometry). Weaning male albino mice were infected with 80 cercariae, fed with high (20 percent) or low-protein (5 percent) diets and compared to uninfected controls under the same conditions. Mice were sacrificed 12 weeks after infection. Animals submitted to a low-protein diet showed lower weight curves, mainly when infected. In the jejunal mucosa, finger-like villi were the predominant pattern among uninfected high-protein fed animals, while the infected ones showed leaf-shaped and flattened villi in most cases. Undernourished infected mice had 65.7 percent leaf-shaped villi. A significant increase in the number of goblet cells was seen in infected mice. A decrease in the number of absorptive cells was detected in undernourished mice, particularly in infected ones