Artículos de revistas
Deficient Regulatory T Cell Activity and Low Frequency of IL-17-Producing T Cells Correlate with the Extent of Cardiomyopathy in Human Chagas' Disease
Fecha
2012Registro en:
PLOS NEGLECTED TROPICAL DISEASES, SAN FRANCISCO, v. 6, n. 4, supl. 4, Part 1-2, pp. 379-384, APR, 2012
1935-2735
10.1371/journal.pntd.0001630
Autor
Matta Guedes, Paulo Marcos
Salazar Gutierrez, Fredy Roberto
Silva, Grace Kelly
Dellalibera-Joviliano, Renata
Rodrigues, Gerson Jhonatan
Bendhack, Lusiane Maria
Rassi, Anis, Jr.
Rassi, Anis
Schmidt, Andre
Maciel, Benedito Carlos
Marin Neto, Jose Antonio
Silva, Joao Santana
Institución
Resumen
Background: Myocardium damage during Chagas' disease results from the immunological imbalance between pro-and production of anti-inflammatory cytokines and has been explained based on the Th1-Th2 dichotomy and regulatory T cell activity. Recently, we demonstrated that IL-17 produced during experimental T. cruzi infection regulates Th1 cells differentiation and parasite induced myocarditis. Here, we investigated the role of IL-17 and regulatory T cell during human Chagas' disease. Methodology/Principal Findings: First, we observed CD4(+)IL-17(+) T cells in culture of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from Chagas' disease patients and we evaluated Th1, Th2, Th17 cytokine profile production in the PBMC cells from Chagas' disease patients (cardiomyopathy-free, and with mild, moderate or severe cardiomyopathy) cultured with T. cruzi antigen. Cultures of PBMC from patients with moderate and severe cardiomyopathy produced high levels of TNF-alpha, IFN-gamma and low levels of IL-10, when compared to mild cardiomyopathy or cardiomyopathy-free patients. Flow cytometry analysis showed higher CD4(+)IL-17(+) cells in PBMC cultured from patients without or with mild cardiomyopathy, in comparison to patients with moderate or severe cardiomyopathy. We then analyzed the presence and function of regulatory T cells in all patients. All groups of Chagas' disease patients presented the same frequency of CD4(+)CD25(+) regulatory T cells. However, CD4(+)CD25(+) T cells from patients with mild cardiomyopathy or cardiomyopathy-free showed higher suppressive activity than those with moderate and severe cardiomyopathy. IFN-gamma levels during chronic Chagas' disease are inversely correlated to the LVEF (P = 0.007, r = -0.614), while regulatory T cell activity is directly correlated with LVEF (P = 0.022, r = 0.500). Conclusion/Significance: These results indicate that reduced production of the cytokines IL-10 and IL-17 in association with high levels of IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha is correlated with the severity of the Chagas' disease cardiomyopathy, and the immunological imbalance observed may be causally related with deficient suppressor activity of regulatory T cells that controls myocardial inflammation.