Alterações imuno-metabólicas em camundongos C57BL/6 obesos infectados com Leishmania major

Abstract

Obesity is a multifactor chronic disease and is associated with increased mortality, as it predisposes to a variety of diseases. This is a public health problem that has grown in Brazil and worldwide in all segments of society. Many effects of obesity on the development of metabolic and cardiovascular disorders are known, however little is known about the impact of obesity on the immune system and infectious diseases. Recent studies have shown that obese subjects have an impaired immune response predisposing to increased susceptibility to infection by various pathogens. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate whether obesity induced by high calorie diet alters the immune response in C57BL / 6 mice to infection by Leishmania major. C57BL / 6 mice were divided into groups AIN 93G (normal diet) and HSF (hypercaloric diet). After 4 weeks of diet groups were infected with L. major and euthanized 2, 4 and 8 weeks after infection. We evaluated weight gain, blood glucose, serum lipids, lesion size, parasitism, cytokine profile and immunoglobulins and nitric oxide production. The data presented in this study suggest that obesity and its metabolic complications appear to alter the immune response during infection with L. major. Changes in the cytokine profile (reduction of IFN-γ and increase of IL-10 in the second week of infection) may possibly explain the mechanisms by which obese animals present higher lesion size and more permissiveness to the parasite.