title: Trypanosoma cruzi: in vivo evaluation of iron in skin employing X-ray fluorescence (XRF) in mouse strains that differ in their susceptibility to infection.
abstract: Trypanosoma cruzi, the causative agent of Chagas' disease (CD), is a substantial public health concern in Latin America. Laboratory mice inoculated with T. cruzi have served as important animal models of acute CD. Host hypoferremic responses occur during T. cruzi infection; therefore, it has been hypothesized that T. cruzi requires iron for optimal growth in host cells and, unlike extracellular pathogens, may benefit from host hypoferremic responses. Recent technological improvements of X-ray fluorescence are useful for diagnostics or monitoring in biomedical applications. The goal of our study was to determine whether the iron availabilities in Swiss and C57BL/6 mice differ during the acute phase of T. cruzi infection and whether the availability correlates with oxidative stress in the susceptible and resistant phenotypes identified in these mice. Our results showed that the decrease in iron levels in the skin of resistant infected mice correlated with the increase in oxidative stress associated with anemia and the reduction in parasite burden.
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Física Nuclear Aplicada, Departamento de Física, Universidade Estadual de Londrina, Paraná, Brasil.
authors.forename: Marcelo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Estevam
authors.forename: Carlos Roberto
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Appoloni
authors.forename: Aparecida Donizette
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Malvezi
authors.forename: Vera Lúcia Hideko
authors.initials: VL
authors.lastname: Tatakihara
authors.forename: Carolina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Panis
authors.forename: Rubens
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cecchini
authors.forename: Luiz Vicente
authors.initials: LV
authors.lastname: Rizzo
authors.forename: Phileno
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pinge-Filho
mesh_terms: D000740:Anemia / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism / Q000469:parasitology; D000818:Animals; D014355:Chagas Disease / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000469:parasitology; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000378:metabolism; D005453:Fluorescence; D007501:Iron / Q000378:metabolism*; D000090463:Iron Deficiencies; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000502:physiology; D011634:Public Health; D012867:Skin / Q000378:metabolism*; D014349:Trypanosoma cruzi / Q000378:metabolism*; D014965:X-Rays
chemical_list: D007501:Iron