title: Trypanosoma cruzi: treatment with the iron chelator desferrioxamine reduces parasitemia and mortality in experimentally infected mice.
abstract: The effects of prolonged treatment with iron chelator (desferrioxamine) on the development of infection in mice inoculated with Y Trypanosoma cruzi were determined. Infected/treated mice presented lower levels of parasitemia and reduced mortality rate compared with infected/non-treated animals. The five out of twenty infected/treated mice that survived the acute phase of infection showed negative hemoculture and positive ELISA in the acute and chronic phases and positive PCR in the acute phase: in the chronic phase, three of the animals presented negative PCR. The single surviving infected/non-treated animal exhibited positive hemoculture, PCR and ELISA in both phases of infection. Infected groups presented lower levels of iron in the liver compared with treated/non-infected or non-treated/non-infected animals. The serum iron levels of the infected/non-treated group were higher on the 21st day post-infection in comparison with control and infected/treated groups. These results suggest that decrease of iron in the host leads to T. cruzi infection attenuation.
authors.affiliation: Núcleo de Pesquisas em Ciências Biológicas (NUPEB), Instituto de Ciências Exatas e Biológicas (ICEB), Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto (UFOP), Rua Costa Sena 171, 35 400-000 Ouro Preto, MG, Brazil.
authors.forename: Jerusa Marilda
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Arantes
authors.forename: Maria Lúcia
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Pedrosa
authors.forename: Helen Rodrigues
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Martins
authors.forename: Vanja Maria
authors.initials: VM
authors.lastname: Veloso
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: de Lana
authors.forename: Maria Terezinha
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Bahia
authors.forename: Washington Luiz
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: Tafuri
authors.forename: Cláudia Martins
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Carneiro
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D014355:Chagas Disease / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality; D003676:Deferoxamine / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006454:Hemoglobins / Q000032:analysis / Q000187:drug effects; D007501:Iron / Q000032:analysis / Q000097:blood; D008099:Liver / Q000737:chemistry / Q000187:drug effects; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D018512:Parasitemia / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality; D017262:Siderophores / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D014349:Trypanosoma cruzi / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D014774:Virulence / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D006454:Hemoglobins; D017262:Siderophores; D007501:Iron; D003676:Deferoxamine