title: Vasoactive intestinal peptide reduces the inflammatory profile in mice infected with Trypanosoma cruzi.
abstract: Vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) has gained great prominence because of its therapeutic potential, which is ascribed to its ability to regulate innate immunity, inhibit antigen-specific Th1 cell responses, and generate T regulatory cells. Additionally, VIP may act as a natural antimicrobial peptide, killing bacteria, fungi, and infective forms of Trypanosoma brucei. Despite the possible relevance of VIP during the course of Chagas disease, studies regarding this in human and experimental Trypanosoma cruzi infections remain poorly characterized. In this work, we evaluated the effects of VIP on systemic and cardiac immune responses during experimental acute infection. C57BL/6 mice were infected with 5000 trypomastigotes of the VL-10 strain of T. cruzi and treated with intraperitoneal VIP injection every other day for one month. After 30 days, we observed no reduction in parasitemia levels. However, we observed a reduction in serum levels of IFN-gamma and IL-2 and an increase in that of IL-4. These data suggest that VIP treatment modified immune responses to favor the Th2 response, which had no impact on parasitemia levels although the serum level of IFN-gamma was reduced. However, this change in immune balance reduced heart damage, as noted by the smaller cardiac volume and the moderate inflammatory infiltrate observed in VIP-treated mice. Our results indicate that VIP treatment reduced the inflammatory response at the cardiac site of mice that were experimentally infected with T. cruzi. These data suggest a protective role for VIP in the heart of infected mice.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Ciências Exatas e Biológicas, Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto, Campus Morro do Cruzeiro S/N, Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais, CEP: 35400-000, Brazil.
authors.forename: Pulchéria Maria Silva
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Higyno
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Ciências Exatas e Biológicas, Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto, Campus Morro do Cruzeiro S/N, Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais, CEP: 35400-000, Brazil.
authors.forename: Priscila Fagundes
authors.initials: PF
authors.lastname: Mendes
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Ciências Exatas e Biológicas, Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto, Campus Morro do Cruzeiro S/N, Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais, CEP: 35400-000, Brazil.
authors.forename: Marina Barcelos de
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Miranda
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Ciências Exatas e Biológicas, Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto, Campus Morro do Cruzeiro S/N, Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais, CEP: 35400-000, Brazil.
authors.forename: Dario Elias
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Pereira
authors.affiliation: Faculdade de Farmácia, Departamento de Análises Clínicas e Toxicológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Avenida Presidente Antônio Carlos, 6627, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, CEP: 31270-901, Brazil.
authors.forename: Ana Paula Lucas
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Mota
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Ciências Exatas e Biológicas, Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto, Campus Morro do Cruzeiro S/N, Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais, CEP: 35400-000, Brazil.
authors.forename: Katiane de Oliveira Pinto Coelho
authors.initials: Kde O
authors.lastname: Nogueira
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Ciências Exatas e Biológicas, Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto, Campus Morro do Cruzeiro S/N, Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais, CEP: 35400-000, Brazil; Departamento de Patologia e Parasitologia, Universidade Federal de Alfenas, Rua Gabriel Monteiro da Silva, 700, Alfenas, Minas Gerais, CEP: 37130-000, Brazil.
authors.forename: Ivo Santana
authors.initials: IS
authors.lastname: Caldas
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Ciências Exatas e Biológicas, Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto, Campus Morro do Cruzeiro S/N, Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais, CEP: 35400-000, Brazil.
authors.forename: Sandra Aparecida de Lima
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Moura
authors.affiliation: Faculdade de Farmácia, Departamento de Análises Clínicas e Toxicológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Avenida Presidente Antônio Carlos, 6627, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, CEP: 31270-901, Brazil. Electronic address: menezescristiane1@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Cristiane Alves da Silva
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Menezes
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002598:Chagas Cardiomyopathy / Q000517:prevention & control*; D014355:Chagas Disease / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D018925:Chemokines / Q000032:analysis; D016207:Cytokines / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D009206:Myocardium / Q000473:pathology; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D018512:Parasitemia / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000469:parasitology; D014660:Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents; D018925:Chemokines; D016207:Cytokines; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents; D014660:Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide
keywords: Neuroimmunomodulation; Trypanosoma cruzi; vasoactive intestinal peptide