title: Human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) enhances immunity against L. tropica by stimulating human macrophage functions.
abstract: During pregnancy, there are important changes in hormone levels such as the huge production of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), which is supposed to influence the immune system. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of hCG on immune response against Leishmania, through the evaluation of the functions of human macrophages infected with L. tropica. This study demonstrated that hCG significantly increased the NO production by rHu-IFNγ-primed macrophages then infected with L. tropica, which was correlated with decrease in the number of infected macrophages as well as the number of amastigotes per macrophage in a dose-dependent manner; however, the greatest effect was shown with the 250 U/mL concentration. The addition of the same concentration of hCG to rHu-IFNγ-primed macrophages caused also a major increase in both IL-6 and IL-12p40 production. In conclusion, hCG enhances different macrophage functions involved in immunity against L. tropica.
authors.affiliation: Immunology laboratory, Department of Animal Biology, Damascus University, Damascus, Syria. social_1985@hotmail.com
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Abu Alshamat
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Al-Okla
authors.forename: C H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Soukkarieh
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kweider
mesh_terms: D002478:Cells, Cultured; D006063:Chorionic Gonadotropin / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000378:metabolism; D007895:Leishmania tropica / Q000276:immunology*; D008264:Macrophages / Q000276:immunology* / Q000469:parasitology*; D009569:Nitric Oxide / Q000378:metabolism; D059208:Parasite Load
chemical_list: D006063:Chorionic Gonadotropin; D009569:Nitric Oxide; D007371:Interferon-gamma