title: In vitro and in vivo effects of progesterone on Trichinella spiralis newborn larvae.
abstract: We have previously demonstrated that during pregnancy there exists an increased parasiticide activity against Trichinella spiralis newborn larvae (NBL) in infected rats. In this work we analysed the contribution of peritoneal cells from noninfected pregnant rats to the mortality of the NBL in cytotoxicity assays, and evaluated the role of progesterone in this effector mechanism. Our findings suggest that progesterone can induce activation of effector peritoneal cells to destroy the NBL in a rapid and antibody-independent manner. The administration of progesterone to ovariectomized rats also led to a significant decrease in the parasite load of the animals, thus demonstrating that progesterone induces the increase of the parasiticide activity of the leukocytes involved in the mechanisms of NBL death.
authors.affiliation: Humoral Immunity Studies Institute, CONICET, Chair of Immunology, Faculty of Pharmacy and Biochemistry, University of Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: G G
authors.initials: GG
authors.lastname: Nuñez
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Gentile
authors.forename: S N
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Costantino
authors.forename: M I
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Sarchi
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Venturiello
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005260:Female; D007814:Larva / Q000187:drug effects; D007962:Leukocytes / Q000502:physiology; D015735:Mifepristone / Q000494:pharmacology; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000469:parasitology; D011247:Pregnancy; D015597:Pregnancy Complications, Parasitic / Q000276:immunology; D011374:Progesterone / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D017160:Trichinella spiralis / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000276:immunology*; D014235:Trichinellosis / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D015735:Mifepristone; D011374:Progesterone