In vitro phagocytosis modulation by homeopathic preparations in a model of co-culture with Leishmania (L.) amazonensis

• Grant number: 14/00967-1
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Duration: August 01, 2014 - July 31, 2016
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Veterinary Medicine - Animal Pathology
• Principal Investigator: Leoni Villano Bonamin
• Grantee: Leoni Villano Bonamin
• Host Institution: Vice-Reitoria de Pesquisa e Pós-Graduação. Universidade Paulista (UNIP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: ELIZABETH CRISTINA PEREZ HURTADO ; Maria Anete Lallo ; Renato Corrêa Viana Casarin

Abstract

This study will evaluate the phagocytic activity of macrophages from different points of view after treatment by the homeopathic preparations: Thymulin 5 cH, Antimonium crudum 30 cH, Zincum metallicum 6cH and Arsenicum album 6 cH, co-cultured with Leishmania (L.) amazonensis. Leishmaniasis is a zoonosis caused by intracellular protozoan parasites of the mononuclear phagocyte system and represents a good model to study the dynamics of phagocytosis and host-parasite relationships. RAW macrophages lineage will be infected with 2x10 6 promastigotes of Leishmania (L.) amazonensis and cultured in vitro in the presence of the homeopathic preparations. Subsequently, measurement of cytokines, evaluation of phagocytosis index, morphological and functional analysis, measurement of reactive metabolites of oxygen and nitrogen and the expression of CD80/86, indicators of antigen presentation, will be held. The motivations for this study are the previous results obtained in vivo by our group, some of them already published. In these studies, experimental infection with BCG and Leishmania in vivo demonstrated specific effects of homeopathic preparations thymulin 5 cH and Antimonium crudum 30 cH in systemic cellular recruitment and in the features of the lesion at the inoculation site, assessed by flow cytometry, immunohistochemistry and histometry. In this project, we seek to understand details about the mechanisms involved in the phagocytic response to Leishmania (L.) amazonensis in the presence of different homeopathic treatments in vitro. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

DE SANTANA, FABIANA RODRIGUES; DALBONI, LUCIANE C.; NASCIMENTO, KATIA F.; KONNO, FABIANA TOSHIE; ALVARES-SARAIVA, ANUSKA M.; CORREIA, MICHELLE S. F.; CORREA BOMFIM, MARISTELA DUTRA; CASARIN, RENATO C. V.; PEREZ, ELIZABETH C.; LALLO, MARIA ANETE; et al. High dilutions of antimony modulate cytokines production and macrophage - Leishmania (L.) amazonensis interaction in vitro. CYTOKINE, v. 92, p. 33-47, APR 2017. (14/00967-1)