Low and high-dose intradermal infection with Leishmania major and Leishmania amazonensis in C57BL/6 mice.
No Thumbnail Available
Date
2010
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
A model of skin infection with Leishmania amazonensis with low doses of parasites is compared to infection with
high doses of L. amazonensis and low and high doses of Leishmania major. C57BL/6 mice were infected with 103
or
106
parasites in the ear and the outcome of infection was assessed. The appearance of lesions in mice infected with
103
parasites was delayed compared to mice infected with 106 Leishmania and parasites were detectable at the infection
site before lesions became apparent. Mice infected with L. amazonensis displayed persistent lesions, whereas
infection with L. major spontaneously healed in all groups, although lymphocytes persisted at the site of infection
after healing. Macrophages persisted only in L. amazonensis-infected mice. High-dose L. amazonensis-infected mice
produced lower levels of IFN-γ and TNF than mice infected with L. major. No correlation between the persistence of
parasites and IL-10 levels and the production of nitric oxide or urea by macrophages was found. We conclude that
infection with low doses of L. amazonensis in the dermis changes the course of infection by delaying the appearance
of lesions. However, low-dose infection does not change the outcomes of susceptibility and cytokine production described
for subcutaneous infection with high numbers of parasites.
Description
Keywords
Cytokines
Citation
CÔRTES, D. F. et al. Low and high-dose intradermal infection with Leishmania major and Leishmania amazonensis in C57BL/6 mice. Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, v. 105, n. 6, p. 736-745, set. 2010. Disponível em: <http://www.scielo.br/pdf/mioc/v105n6/02.pdf>. Acesso em: 21 out. 2015