Obesity impairs resistance to < i > Leishmania major < /i > infection in C57BL/6 mice

by Vinicius Dantas Martins, Franciele Carolina Silva, Felipe Caixeta, Matheus Batista Carneiro, Graziele Ribeiro Goes, L ícia Torres, Sara Cândida Barbosa, Leonardo Vaz, Nivea Carolina Paiva, Cláudia Martins Carneiro, Leda Quercia Vieira, Ana Maria Caetano Faria, Tatiani Uceli Maioli An association between increased susceptibility to infectious diseases and obesity has been described as a result of impaired immunity in obese individuals. It is not clear whether a similar linkage can be drawn between obesity and parasitic diseases. To evaluate the effect of obesity in the immun e response to cutaneousLeishmania major infection, we studied the ability of C57BL/6 mice fed a hypercaloric diet (HSB) to control leishmaniasis. Mice with diet-induced obesity presented thicker lesions with higher parasite burden and a more intense inflammatory infiltrate in the infected ear after infection withL.major. There was no difference between control and obese mice in IFN-gamma or IL-4 production by auricular draining lymph node cells, but obese mice produced higher levels of IgG1 and IL-17. Peritoneal macrophages from obese mice were less efficient to killL.major when infectedin vitro than macrophages from control mice.In vitro stimulation of macrophages with IL-17 decreased their capacity to kill the parasite. Moreover, macrophages from obese mice presented higher arginase activity. To confirm the role of IL-17 in the context of obesity and infection, we studied lesion development in obe...
Source: PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases - Category: Tropical Medicine Authors: Source Type: research