Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10216/136326
Author(s): Perez-Cabezas, B
Cecílio, P
Gaspar, TB
Gärtner, F
Vasconcellos, R
Cordeiro-da-Silva, A
Title: Understanding resistance vs. susceptibility in visceral leishmaniasis using mouse models of Leishmania infantum Infection
Publisher: Frontiers Media
Issue Date: 2019
Abstract: Every year, up to 90,000 new cases of Visceral Leishmaniasis and 30,000 resultant deaths are estimated to occur worldwide. Such numbers give relevance to the continuous study of this complex form of the disease: a zoonosis and an anthroponosis; two known etiological agents (Leishmania infantum and L. donovani, respectively); with an estimated average ratio of 1 symptomatic per 10 asymptomatic individuals; and sometimes associated with atypical clinical presentations. This complexity, which results from a long co-evolutionary process involving vector-host, host-pathogen, and pathogen-vector interactions, is still not completely understood. The determinants of visceralization are not fully defined and the dichotomy resistance vs. susceptibility remains unsolved, translating into obstacles that delay the progress of global disease control. Inbred mouse models, with different susceptibility patterns to Leishmania infection, have been very useful in exploring this dichotomy. BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice were described as susceptible strains to L. donovani visceral infection, while SV/129 was considered resistant. Here, we used these three mouse models, but in the context of L. infantum infection, the other Leishmania species that cause visceral disease in humans, and dynamically compared their local and systemic infection-induced immune responses in order to establish a parallel and to ultimately better understand susceptibility vs. resistance in visceral leishmaniasis. Overall, our results suggest that C57BL/6 mice develop an intermediate "infection-phenotype" in comparison to BALB/c and SV/129 mouse strains, considering both the splenic parasite burden and the determined target organs weights. However, the immune mechanisms associated with the control of infection seem to be different in each mouse strain. We observed that both BALB/c and SV/129, but not C57BL/6 mice, show an infection-induced increase of splenic T follicular helper cells. On the other hand, differences detected in terms of CD21 expression by B cells early after infection, together with the quantified anti-Leishmania specific antibodies, suggest that SV/129 are faster than BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice in the assembly of an efficient B-cell response. Additionally, we observed an infection-induced increase in polyfunctional CD4+ T cells in the resistant SV/129 model, opposing an infection-induced increase in CD4+IL-10+ cells in susceptible BALB/c mice. Our data aligns with the observations reported for L. donovani infection and suggest that not only a single mechanism, but an interaction of several could be necessary for the control of this parasitic disease.
Subject: Immune regulation
Leishmania
Mouse models
Susceptibility vs. resistance
Visceral leishmaniasis
URI: https://hdl.handle.net/10216/136326
Source: Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology, vol.9:30
Document Type: Artigo em Revista Científica Internacional
Rights: openAccess
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Appears in Collections:I3S - Artigo em Revista Científica Internacional

Files in This Item:
File Description SizeFormat 
10.3389-fcimb.2019.00030.pdf6.59 MBAdobe PDFThumbnail
View/Open


This item is licensed under a Creative Commons License Creative Commons