title: Trypanosoma cruzi: orchiectomy and dehydroepiandrosterone therapy in infected rats.
abstract: The ability of gonadal hormones to influence and induce diverse immunological functions during the course of a number of parasitic infections has been extensively studied in the latest decades. Dehydroepiandrosterone and its sulfate are the most abundant steroid hormones secreted by the human adrenal cortex and are considered potent immune-activators. The effects of orchiectomy on the course of Trypanosoma cruzi infection in rats, treated and untreated with DHEA were examined, by comparing blood and cardiac parasitism, macrophage numbers, nitric oxide and IFN-gamma levels. Orchiectomy enhanced resistance against infection with elevated numbers of macrophages, enhanced concentrations of NO and IFN-gamma and reduced amastigote burdens in heart when compared to control animals. DHEA replacement exerted a synergistic effect, up-modulating the immune response. Male sex steroids appear to play fundamental role in determining the outcome of disease, through the regulation and modulation of the activity of the immune response.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Análises Clínicas, Toxicológicas e Bromatológicas, Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas de Ribeirão Preto FCFRP-USP, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil. vbrazao@fcfrp.usp.br
authors.forename: Marina Del Vecchio
authors.initials: Mdel V
authors.lastname: Filipin
authors.forename: Vânia
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Brazão
authors.forename: Leony Cristina
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Caetano
authors.forename: Fabricia Helena
authors.initials: FH
authors.lastname: Santello
authors.forename: Míriam Paula Alonso
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Toldo
authors.forename: Luana Naiara
authors.initials: LN
authors.lastname: Caetano
authors.forename: José Clóvis
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: do Prado
mesh_terms: D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000818:Animals; D002452:Cell Count; D014355:Chagas Disease / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000276:immunology / Q000601:surgery; D003687:Dehydroepiandrosterone / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006321:Heart / Q000469:parasitology; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000097:blood; D017737:Macrophages, Peritoneal / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology; D008297:Male; D009206:Myocardium / Q000473:pathology; D009569:Nitric Oxide / Q000096:biosynthesis; D009919:Orchiectomy; D018512:Parasitemia / Q000276:immunology / Q000469:parasitology; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D014349:Trypanosoma cruzi / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic; D009569:Nitric Oxide; D003687:Dehydroepiandrosterone; D007371:Interferon-gamma