Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, VOLUME 118 | 2023
Research Articles

Benznidazole treatment decreases IL-6 levels in Trypanosoma cruzi-infected human adipocytes differentiated from adipose tissue-derived stem cells

Leyllane Rafael Moreira1,2, Ana Carla Silva2, Cíntia Nascimento da Costa Oliveira2, Claudeir Dias da Silva Júnior1,2, Amanda Vasconcelos Nascimento2, Kamila Kássia dos Santos Oliveira2, Ana Karine de Araújo Soares3, Karina Lidianne Alcântara Saraiva4, Milena de Paiva Cavalcanti5, Virginia Maria Barros de Lorena2,+

1Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Medicina Tropical, Recife, PE, Brasil
2Fundação Oswaldo Cruz-Fiocruz, Instituto Aggeu Magalhães, Laboratório de Imunoparasitologia, Recife, PE, Brasil
3Fundação Altino Ventura, Recife, PE, Brasil
4Fundação Oswaldo Cruz-Fiocruz, Instituto Aggeu Magalhães, Núcleo de Plataformas Tecnológicas, Recife, PE, Brasil
5Fundação Oswaldo Cruz-Fiocruz, Instituto Aggeu Magalhães, Departamento de Microbiologia, Recife, PE, Brasil

DOI: 10.1590/0074-02760220295
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ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND Trypanosoma cruzi, which causes Chagas disease (CD), is a versatile haemoparasite that uses several strategies to evade the host’s immune response, including adipose tissue (AT), used as a reservoir of infection. As it is an effective barrier to parasite evasion, the effectiveness of the drug recommended for treating CD, Benznidazole (BZ), may be questionable.
OBJECTIVE To this end, we evaluated the parasite load and immunomodulation caused by BZ treatment in the culture of adipocytes differentiated from human adipose tissue-derived stem cells (ADSC) infected with T. cruzi.
METHODS The ADSC were subjected to adipogenic differentiation. We then carried out four cultures in which we infected the differentiated AT with trypomastigote forms of the Y strain of T. cruzi and treated them with BZ. After the incubation, the infected AT was subjected to quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) to quantify the parasite load and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) to verify the infection. The supernatant was collected to measure cytokines, chemokines, and adipokines.
FINDINGS We found elevated secretion of IL-6, CXCL-10/IP-10, CCL2/MCP-1, CCL5/RANTES, and leptin in infected fat cells. However, treatment with BZ promoted a decrease in IL-6.
MAIN CONCLUSION Therefore, we believe that BZ has a beneficial role as it reduces inflammation in infected fat cells.

key words: adipose tissue Trypanosoma cruzi immunomodulation benznidazole
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doi: 10.1590/0074-02760220295
+ Corresponding author: virginia.lorena@fiocruz.br
ORCID https://orcid.org/ 0000-0003-0663-236X
Received 30 December 2022
Accepted 27 September 2023

HOW TO CITE
Moreira LR, Silva AC, Costa-Oliveira CN, Silva-Júnior CD, Nascimento AV, Oliveira KKS, et al. Benznidazole treatment decreases IL-6 levels in Trypanosoma cruzi-infected human adipocytes differentiated from adipose tissue-derived stem cells. Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz. 2023; 118: e220295.

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