title: Strength and Aerobic Physical Exercises Are Able to Increase Survival ofToxoplasma gondii-Infected C57BL/6 Mice by Interfering in the IFN-γ Expression.
abstract: Physical exercise has been implicated in several immunophysiological improvements, particularly during the aging process, when an immunocompromised status could be established.Toxoplasma gondiiis a protozoan parasite that causes a widespread opportunistic infection, which may present severe consequences, mainly to the fetus and immunocompromised patients. It is estimated that one-third of the human population worldwide has been infected by this parasite, being the reactivation during immunesenescence an unexplored public health issue. The major purpose of the present study was to observe the immunophysiological differences between exercised vs. sedentary C57BL/6 male mice that have been experimentally infected byT. gondii. In the first set of experiments, the animals were infected after exercising and three groups were set up: experimental groups-infected sedentary (IS,n= 6); infected exercised (IEx,n= 6) and control group-non-infected sedentary (NIS,n= 6). When stimulatedin vitrobyT. gondii-soluble tachyzoite antigen, it was found that splenocytes from exercised group produced higher levels of IFN-γ, as well as of IFN-γ/IL-10 ratios in comparison with splenocytes from sedentary animals (P< 0.001). However, it was not found significant differences concerning quantification ofT. gondiigenomic DNA by qRT-PCR and immunohistochemistry analysis in brain cysts from both group of animals (P> 0.05). In order to further investigate the consequences of these data for the host, a second set of experiments was performed, when the animals were infected before exercising and four groups of animals were established for comparison purpose, as follows: experimental groups-infected sedentary (IS,n= 7); infected exercised (IEx,n= 6) and control groups-non-infected sedentary (NIS,n= 6) and non-infected exercised (NIEx,n= 6). It was found significant differences in the survival rates of the exercised group the animals, as they survived longer than sedentary groups (P= 0.0005). In both sets of experiments, mice have been submitted to moderate exercises: aerobic (14 m/min; 3 x/week) and strength (60-80% of one maximum repetition; 2 x/week). Overall, our findings are showing that the aerobic and strength exercises are able to modulate immune response againstT. gondiiinfection, being these immunological features beneficial to the host.
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Imunoparasitologia, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas, Universidade Federal de UberlândiaUberlândia, Brazil; Laboratório de Exercícios Físicos Resistidos e Aeróbicos, Centro de Ciências da Saúde e do Desporto, Universidade Federal do AcreRio Branco, Brazil.
authors.forename: Miguel J S
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Bortolini
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Imunoparasitologia, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia Uberlândia, Brazil.
authors.forename: Murilo V
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Imunoparasitologia, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia Uberlândia, Brazil.
authors.forename: Fábio M
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Alonso
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Imunoparasitologia, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia Uberlândia, Brazil.
authors.forename: Luciana A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Medeiros
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Imunoparasitologia, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia Uberlândia, Brazil.
authors.forename: Fernando R
authors.initials: FR
authors.lastname: Carvalho
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Imunoparasitologia, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia Uberlândia, Brazil.
authors.forename: Lourenço F
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Costa
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Imunopatologia, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Uberlândia, Brazil.
authors.forename: Neide M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Biofisicoquímica, Instituto de Genética e Bioquímica Uberlândia, Brazil.
authors.forename: Nilson
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Penha-Silva
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Imunoparasitologia, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia Uberlândia, Brazil.
authors.forename: Tiago W P
authors.initials: TW
authors.lastname: Mineo
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Imunoparasitologia, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia Uberlândia, Brazil.
authors.forename: José R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Mineo
keywords: IFN-γ levels; IFN-γ/IL10 ratios; Toxoplasma gondii; immune response; murine model; parasite burden; strength and aerobic exercise