title: Prednisolone and cyclosporine A: effects on an experimental model of ancylostomiasis.
abstract: Corticosteroids and cyclosporine A (CsA) are important clinical immunosuppressive drugs used in the maintenance of organ transplants and in suppressing undesired autoimmune or allergic immune responses. To study the effect of CsA and prednisolone on the course of an Ancylostoma ceylanicum infection, hamsters were treated with commercially available prednisolone or CsA. For both drugs, half the recommended dose was sufficient to inhibit the proliferation of more than 70% of hamster lymph node cells. There was no difference in the recovery of adult worms; however, animals treated with prednisolone presented with low egg counts in the feces. Infection with A. ceylanicum resulted in an increase in specific antibodies against adult worm antigens, but hamsters treated with either drug presented with lower IgG titers. We observed that A. ceylanicum infection caused peripheral cellular immune suppression, which is characterized by a reduction in the total white cell count, neutropenia and lymphopenia. We also observed a lymphoplasmacytic pattern and few eosinophils in the mucosal inflammatory infiltrate for all the animals. The animals treated with prednisolone showed changes in the architecture of the intestine, including the loss of the mucosa, intense congestion and inflammation. In spleen, we observed hyperplasia of white pulp in all infected animals; in addition, there was a loss of tissue architecture in the animals treated with prednisolone. In conclusion, this work shows that an A. ceylanicum infection leads to acute peripheral cellular immune suppression in hamsters but not humoral immune suppression and that CsA treatment does not interfere with the process of infection. However, prednisolone treatment causes intestinal injury, what could hamper the parasite attachment to the intestinal wall, and as a result affects copulation and, consequently, decreases the number of eggs eliminated in the feces. Moreover, the possibility that the drug can also be exerting an effect on female fertility should be considered.
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Parasitologia Molecular, Departamento de Parasitologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Av. Antônio Carlos, 6627, Pampulha, CEP 31270-901, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
authors.forename: Sílvia Regina Costa
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Dias
authors.forename: Ana Flávia Dias Vieira
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: da Costa
authors.forename: Pedro Henrique
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Gazzinelli-Guimarães
authors.forename: Bruno Mendes
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Roatt
authors.forename: Kátia
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: da Silva Fonseca
authors.forename: Nívia Carolina Nogueira
authors.initials: NC
authors.lastname: de Paiva
authors.forename: Rodolfo Cordeiro
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Giunchetti
authors.forename: Cláudia Martins
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Carneiro
authors.forename: Ricardo Toshio
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Fujiwara
authors.forename: Élida Mara Leite
authors.initials: ÉM
authors.lastname: Rabelo
mesh_terms: D000724:Ancylostomiasis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000276:immunology; D000818:Animals; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D006224:Cricetinae; D016572:Cyclosporine / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005243:Feces / Q000469:parasitology; D005260:Female; D005938:Glucocorticoids / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000097:blood; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D007421:Intestine, Small / Q000469:parasitology / Q000473:pathology; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology; D008643:Mesentery; D008647:Mesocricetus; D010270:Parasite Egg Count; D011239:Prednisolone / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D013154:Spleen / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D005938:Glucocorticoids; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents; D016572:Cyclosporine; D011239:Prednisolone