title: Diet regulates liver autophagy differentially in murine acute Trypanosoma cruzi infection.
abstract: Chagas disease is a tropical parasitic disease caused by the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi, which affects about ten million people in its endemic regions of Latin America. After the initial acute stage of infection, 60-80% of infected individuals remain asymptomatic for several years to a lifetime; however, the rest develop the debilitating symptomatic stage, which affects the nervous system, digestive system, and heart. The challenges of Chagas disease have become global due to immigration. Despite well-documented dietary changes accompanying immigration, as well as a transition to a western style diet in the Chagas endemic regions, the role of host metabolism in the pathogenesis of Chagas disease remains underexplored. We have previously used a mouse model to show that host diet is a key factor regulating cardiomyopathy in Chagas disease. In this study, we investigated the effect of a high-fat diet on liver morphology and physiology, lipid metabolism, immune signaling, energy homeostasis, and stress responses in the murine model of acute T. cruzi infection. Our results indicate that in T. cruzi-infected mice, diet differentially regulates several liver processes, including autophagy, a stress response mechanism, with corresponding implications for human Chagas disease patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, Public Health Research Institute, Rutgers state University, 225 Warren Street, Newark, NJ, 07103, USA.
authors.forename: Kezia
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lizardo
authors.affiliation: Departments of Pathology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 1300 Morris Park Avenue, Bronx, NY, 10461, USA.
authors.forename: Vanessa
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Almonte
authors.affiliation: Departments of Pathology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 1300 Morris Park Avenue, Bronx, NY, 10461, USA.
authors.forename: Calvin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Law
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, Public Health Research Institute, Rutgers state University, 225 Warren Street, Newark, NJ, 07103, USA.
authors.forename: Janeesh Plakkal
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Aiyyappan
authors.affiliation: Departments of Radiology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 1300 Morris Park Avenue, Bronx, NY, 10461, USA.|Departments of Medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 1300 Morris Park Avenue, Bronx, NY, 10461, USA.
authors.forename: Min-Hui
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Cui
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, Public Health Research Institute, Rutgers state University, 225 Warren Street, Newark, NJ, 07103, USA. jfn31@njms.rutgers.edu.
authors.forename: Jyothi F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Nagajyothi
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D000818:Animals; D001343:Autophagy / Q000502:physiology*; D014355:Chagas Disease / Q000469:parasitology*; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000378:metabolism; D059305:Diet, High-Fat; D006321:Heart / Q000469:parasitology; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation / Q000503:physiopathology; D007843:Latin America; D050356:Lipid Metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D008099:Liver / Q000469:parasitology / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008809:Mice, Inbred C3H; D009206:Myocardium / Q000473:pathology; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000502:physiology; D014349:Trypanosoma cruzi / Q000472:pathogenicity*
chemical_list: D002784:Cholesterol
keywords: Autophagy; Chagas disease; Hepatomegaly; High-fat diet; Lipid metabolism