Estudo imuno-histoquímico das células linfóides inatas na Hanseníase

Abstract

Leprosy is a disease characterized by a complex immune interaction, extensively studied regarding the involvement of various immune cells and Th1 and Th2 responses. However, the role of innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) has not yet been described in the disease. This study investigated the involvement of ILCs in different forms of leprosy through immunohistochemical analyses of the transcription factors T-bet, GATA-3, and RORγt in skin samples from 46 participants with a clinical and laboratory diagnosis of leprosy. The study included 46 participants from Belo Horizonte (n=26) and Teófilo Otoni (n=20), classified into the operational forms of paucibacillary (PB) (n=17) and multibacillary (MB) (n=29) leprosy. Immunohistochemical analysis revealed statistically significant differences between PB and MB groups in the expression of the three investigated transcription factors, with higher proportions of overexpression in MB group samples (T-bet p = 0.006, GATA-3 p = 0.042, RORγt p < 0.001). When the comparison was repeated, excluding samples with CD4 overexpression, the MB group still showed a higher proportion of overexpression for GATA-3 and RORγt (p=0.039 and p=0.001, respectively), while T-bet did not show a statistically significant difference between the groups (p=0.137). These findings suggest a possible role of ILCs in modulating inflammation in leprosy. Additional studies using complementary methodologies are needed to confirm and clarify the role of ILCs in the disease.