Article
The synthetic cathelicidin HHC-10 inhibits mycobacterium bovis BCG in vitro and in C57BL/6 mice
Fecha
2013Autor
Llamas-Gonzalez, Y.Y.
Pedroza-Roldan, C.
Cortes-Serna, M.B.
Marquez-Aguirre, A.L.
Galvez-Gastelum, F.J.
Flores-Valdez, M.A.
Institución
Resumen
Tuberculosis causes close to 1.5 million deaths in the world, with new cases exceeding 9 million in recent years. Coinfection with HIV further worsens the global situation. New molecules that overcome the limitations of currently used drugs are needed. We aimed to determine whether HHC-10 is active against the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex bacteria Mycobacterium bovis bacille calmette guerin (BCG) in vitro and in vivo. For this, HHC-10 was tested in vitro using different peptide concentrations, and in vivo, in C57BL/6 mice infected intratracheally, at two doses (1.25 and 2.5 mg kg-1, once a week, 4 weeks). Interferon (IFN)-γ, TNF-α, interleukin (IL)-4, and IL-10 mRNA transcript levels were compared between treated and nontreated mice. In vitro, HHC-10 decreased 69% and 88% the number of colony-forming units (CFU) per millileter recovered after 24-hr treatment at 50 and 100 μg/ml, respectively. In vivo, BCG CFUs in mouse lungs were reduced 77.8% and 95.8% at 1.25 and 2.5 mg kg-1, respectively. IFN-γ expression was lower in the HHC-10-treated group than that of nontreated animals. Considering genomic conservation between BCG and M. tuberculosis, the in vitro and in vivo activities of HHC-10 observed in this study suggest that the use of this peptide may be useful as therapeutic agent against tuberculosis. © Copyright 2013, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. 2013.