Leishmania amazonensis isolated from human visceral leishmaniasis: histopathological analysis and parasitological burden in different inbred mice
2018
Leishmania amazonensis is a major
etiological agent of human cutaneous leishmaniasis in
the Americas; nevertheless there are some reports of this
species causing visceral disease in dogs and men. In the
present work we have studied a Leishmania strain
isolated from a human case of visceral leishmaniasis. We
have infected different mouse strains and analyzed the
development of the disease, studying the parasite’s
ability to visceralize and whether this ability is
influenced by host genetics. Female BALB/c, C57BL/6,
C57BL/10, CBA, DBA/2, and C3H/He mice were
subcutaneously infected with 104 L. amazonensis
amastigotes. BALB/c, C57BL/6 and C57BL/10 mice
were found to be very susceptible to infection, showing
lesions that developed to necrosis and ulceration. CBA
mice developed a late but severe lesion. DBA/2 mice
developed only discrete lesions, while C3H/He mice did
not develop any lesions. All mouse strains except
C3H/He showed some degree of visceralization,
presenting parasites in the spleen, while BALB/c,
C57BL/6 and CBA presented parasites also in the liver.
Moreover, most of the strains presented high parasite
load at the infection site, whereas DBA and C3H/He
mice showed low or no parasite load 90 days after
infection, respectively. Histopathology corroborates the
results, showing that susceptible mice presented an
inflammatory reaction with parasites in the skin, lymph
nodes and spleen, while strains that are more resistant
presented low parasitism and discrete inflammatory
reaction. Results indicate that this isolate is extremely
virulent, can easily visceralize and that the pathogenesis
of leishmaniasis is, at least in part, related to the genetic
background of the host.
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