title: Expression of cyclooxygenase-2, alpha 1-acid-glycoprotein and inducible nitric oxide synthase in the developing lesions of murine leprosy.
abstract: Murine leprosy is a chronic disease of the mouse, the most popular animal model used in biomedical investigation, which is caused by Mycobacterium lepraemurium (MLM) whose characteristic lesion is the macrophage-made granuloma. From onset to the end of the disease, the granuloma undergoes changes that gradually transform the environment into a more appropriate milieu for the growth of M. lepraemurium. The mechanisms that participate in the formation and maturation of the murine leprosy granulomas are not completely understood; however, microbial and host-factors are believed to participate in their formation. In this study, we analysed the role of various pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory proteins in granulomas of murine leprosy after 21 weeks of infection. We assessed the expression of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), alpha acid-glycoprotein (AGP), and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) at sequential stages of infection. We also looked for the nitric-oxide nitrosylation product, nitrotyrosine (NT) in the granulomatous lesions of murine leprosy. We found that a pro-inflammatory environment predominates in the early granulomas while an anti-inflammatory environment predominates in late granulomas. No obvious signs of bacillary destruction were observed during the entire period of infection, but nitrosylation products and cell alterations were observed in granulomas in the advanced stages of disease. The change from a pro-inflammatory to an anti-inflammatory environment, which is probably driven by the bacillus itself, results in a more conducive environment for both bacillus replication and the disease progression.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Inmunología, Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, México, D.F., México.
authors.forename: Mayra
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Silva Miranda
authors.forename: Kendy Wek
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Rodríguez
authors.forename: Erasmo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Martínez Cordero
authors.forename: Oscar
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Rojas-Espinosa
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002908:Chronic Disease; D051546:Cyclooxygenase 2 / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D006099:Granuloma / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D007150:Immunohistochemistry / Q000379:methods; D007918:Leprosy / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D051379:Mice; D008815:Mice, Inbred Strains; D023421:Models, Animal; D009167:Mycobacterium lepraemurium / Q000502:physiology; D052247:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II / Q000032:analysis*; D009961:Orosomucoid / Q000032:analysis*; D013194:Staining and Labeling; D014443:Tyrosine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D009961:Orosomucoid; C002744:3-nitrotyrosine; D014443:Tyrosine; D052247:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II; D051546:Cyclooxygenase 2