title: Vitamin E deficiency enhances pathology in acute Trypanosoma cruzi-infected rats.
abstract: Micronutrient malnutrition is usually highly prevalent in areas endemic for Chagas disease. Nevertheless, the contribution of micronutrient deficiency to the immunopathology of this infection is often overlooked. In the present work, we assessed the effects of vitamin E deficiency on acute Trypanosoma cruzi (Y strain) infection of Holtzman rats. At 20 days post infection, vitamin E deficiency induced changes in leukocyte levels and exacerbated the myocarditis and sympathetic denervation of ventricular hearts. Vitamin E-deficient infected rats displayed significant leukopenia, evidenced by the decline in the numbers of CD45RA(+)CD3(-) B-cells and CD3(+)CD4(+) T-lymphocytes in the peripheral blood compared with infected control rats. In contrast, vitamin E deficiency induced monocytosis as well as an increased differentiation rate of monocytes to macrophages, as revealed by immunohistochemical analysis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Morphology, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brazil. lulucota@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Luciana S C
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Carvalho
authors.forename: Elizabeth R S
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Camargos
authors.forename: Cecília T
authors.initials: CT
authors.lastname: Almeida
authors.forename: Maria do Carmo Gouveia
authors.initials: Mdo C
authors.lastname: Peluzio
authors.forename: Jacqueline I
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Alvarez-Leite
authors.forename: Egler
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Chiari
authors.forename: Débora d'Avila
authors.initials: Dd
authors.lastname: Reis
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001342:Autonomic Nervous System Diseases / Q000469:parasitology; D014355:Chagas Disease / Q000209:etiology* / Q000276:immunology / Q000469:parasitology; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D006321:Heart / Q000294:innervation; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007964:Leukocytosis / Q000469:parasitology; D008264:Macrophages / Q000469:parasitology; D008297:Male; D009205:Myocarditis / Q000469:parasitology; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000469:parasitology; D014349:Trypanosoma cruzi; D014811:Vitamin E Deficiency / Q000150:complications*