Vitamin E deficiency enhances pathology in acute Trypanosoma cruzi-infected rats.
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.
Carvalho
Luciana S C
LS
Department of Morphology, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brazil. lulucota@yahoo.com
Camargos
Elizabeth R S
ER
Almeida
Cecília T
CT
Peluzio
Maria do Carmo Gouveia
Mdo C
Alvarez-Leite
Jacqueline I
JI
Chiari
Egler
E
Reis
Débora d'Avila
Dd
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*