Diet Rich in Lard Promotes a Metabolic Environment Favorable to Trypanosoma cruzi Growth

Abstract

Background:Trypanosoma cruzi is a protozoan parasite that causes Chagas disease and affects 6–7 million people mainly in Latin America and worldwide. Here, we investigated the effects of hyperlipidic diets, mainly composed of olive oil or lard on experimental T. cruzi infection. C57BL/6 mice were fed two different dietary types in which the main sources of fatty acids were either monounsaturated (olive oil diet) or saturated (lard diet).Methods: After 60 days on the diet, mice were infected with 50 trypomastigote forms of T. cruzi Colombian strain. We evaluated the systemic and tissue parasitism, tissue inflammation, and the redox status of mice after 30 days of infection.Results: Lipid levels in the liver of mice fed with the lard diet increased compared with that of the mice fed with olive oil or normolipidic diets. The lard diet group presented with an increased parasitic load in the heart and adipose tissues following infection as well as an increased expression of Tlr2 and Tlr9 in the heart. However, no changes were seen in the survival rates across the dietary groups. Infected mice receiving all diets presented comparable levels of recruited inflammatory cells at 30 days post-infection but, at this time, we observed lard diet inducing an overproduction of CCL2 in the cardiac tissue and its inhibition in the adipose tissue. T. cruzi infection altered liver antioxidant levels in mice, with the lard diet group demonstrating decreased catalase (CAT) activity compared with that of other dietary groups.Conclusions: Our data demonstrated that T. cruzi growth is more favorable on tissue of mice subjected to the lard diet. Our findings supported our hypothesis of a relationship between the source of dietary lipids and parasite-induced immunopathology.

Theracurmin Modulates Cardiac Inflammation in Experimental Model of Trypanosoma cruzi Infection

“…The present study evaluated the oral administration of Theracurmin in experimental infection with the Colombian strain by T. cruzi , characterized as being resistant to benznidazole and as promoting a high inflammatory and tissue parasitism [ 24 , 25 , 26 ]. Our findings suggest a systemic action of Theracurmin on the circulating parasites; however, there seems to be a limitation of this action in the distribution of the natural compound in the tissues.…”

“…In addition, Theracurmin therapy has promoted an elevation of tissue IL-10, which suggests a modulation of a local tissue inflammation and, in perspective, a better myocarditis prognosis in the animals [ 40 ]. CCL2 has been identified as an essential chemokine for the generation of the inflammatory pattern associated with the Colombian and other strains of T. cruzi , it has been investigated in different times of experimental infection [ 14 , 24 , 25 ]. The high CCL2 production is coincident with the presence of parasites and mediates mononuclear cells recruitment into tissues and, in chronic stage of the human disease, this chemokine was suggested as a potential marker of cardiac dysfunction [ 14 ].…”

Protective effects of Theracurmin treatment during experimental infection of the Colombian strain of Trypanosoma cruzi at the testicular site

“…Levels of CCL2, CXCL10, IL-6 and IL-15 were detected in the supernatant of the homogenized testicular tissues. For sample preparation, 30 mg of testicular tissues were macerated in 300 mL of phosphate buffered saline (PBS) and, after centrifugation at 13000 rpm, for 10 min at 4 °C, the supernatant was collected (Souza et al, 2021). Inflammatory mediators were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using a specific kit (Peprotech, NJ, USA) and were performed according to the manufacturer's information.…”