RESUMO
Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) exerts either a protective or a deleterious role in the immune response to different pathogens. We analyzed herein the role of MIF in the host control of toxoplasmosis using MIF(-/-) mice backcrossed to either the BALB/c or the C57BL/6 genetic backgrounds. Both, wild-type (WT) BALB/c and MIF(-/-) BALB/c mice were susceptible to infection with highly virulent RH as well as moderately virulent ME49 strains of T. gondii. MIF(-/-) mice, however, showed greater liver damage and more brain cysts, produced less proinflammatory cytokines, and succumbed significantly faster than WT mice. Bone marrow-derived dendritic cells (BMDCs) from MIF(-/-) mice produced less interleukin-1beta, interleukin-12, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha than WT BMDCs after stimulation with soluble Toxoplasma antigen (STAg). Similar observations were made in CD11c(+) low-density cells isolated from the spleens of MIF(-/-) mice challenged with STAg. MIF(-/-) C57BL/6 mice succumbed to ME49 infection faster than their WT counterparts. C57BL/6 mice that succumbed to infection with the ME49 strain produced less MIF than resistant BALB/c mice similarly infected. Interestingly, an analysis of brains from patients with cerebral toxoplasmosis showed low levels of MIF expression. Together, these findings demonstrate that MIF plays a critical role in mediating host resistance against T. gondii.
Assuntos
Predisposição Genética para Doença , Interações Hospedeiro-Parasita , Imunidade Inata , Oxirredutases Intramoleculares/fisiologia , Fatores Inibidores da Migração de Macrófagos/fisiologia , Toxoplasmose/genética , Animais , Encéfalo/metabolismo , Encéfalo/parasitologia , Citocinas/biossíntese , Células Dendríticas/imunologia , Encefalite/imunologia , Encefalite/parasitologia , Encefalite/patologia , Hepatite/imunologia , Hepatite/parasitologia , Hepatite/patologia , Interações Hospedeiro-Parasita/genética , Interações Hospedeiro-Parasita/imunologia , Humanos , Imunidade Inata/genética , Oxirredutases Intramoleculares/genética , Fatores Inibidores da Migração de Macrófagos/genética , Camundongos , Camundongos Mutantes , Ácido Nítrico/metabolismo , Receptor 2 Toll-Like/biossíntese , Toxoplasma/patogenicidade , Toxoplasmose/imunologia , Toxoplasmose/patologia , Toxoplasmose Cerebral/imunologia , Toxoplasmose Cerebral/parasitologia , Toxoplasmose Cerebral/patologia , VirulênciaRESUMO
The experimental model of high-dose Leishmania mexicana infection is used frequently to study molecular mechanisms regulating Th2 response since most inbred mice regardless of their genetic background display Th2 cytokine-dependent susceptibility to L. mexicana unlike Leishmania major. Here, we analyzed the course of L. mexicana infection in BALB/c, C57BL/6 and CBA/J mouse strains using low-dose ear infection model that mimics natural transmission. Although all three strains were equally susceptible to high-dose back rump L. mexicana infection, they displayed marked differences in their ability to control parasite growth after low-dose ear infection. Leishmania mexicana-infected BALB/c mice produced high levels of Th2-associated cytokines and developed non-healing lesions full of parasites, whereas CBA/J mice preferentially produced Th1-associated IFN-gamma but low levels of IL-4, and developed small self-resolving lesions. Both BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice produced comparable amounts of IFN-gamma following L. mexicana infection, but later produced less Th2-associated cytokines, and exhibited an 'intermediate' susceptibility phenotype characterized by lesion sizes that were significantly smaller than BALB/c mice but larger than CBA/J mice. Interestingly, all three strains also showed marked differences in trafficking of macrophages, CD4+ T cells and CD8+ T cells into their lesions. Finally, we analyzed the course of low-dose L. mexicana infection in signal transducers and activators of transcription (STAT) 6-/- and STAT6+/+ BALB/c mice. We found that STAT6-/- mice mount a Th1 response, produce high levels of IL-12 and IFN-gamma and develop smaller lesions containing fewer parasites as compared with STAT6+/+ mice. Our findings demonstrate that genetic background plays a critical role in determining susceptibility of inbred mice to low-dose L. mexicana infection. Furthermore, together with our previous findings, they show that STAT6-mediated signaling is involved in mediating susceptibility to L. mexicana following both high-dose back rump and low-dose ear dermis infection.