Contribution to the study of mucormycosis: development of an experimental murine model

• Grant number: 13/15513-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: September 01, 2013
• End date: August 31, 2015
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Immunology - Applied Immunology
• Principal Investigator: James Venturini
• Grantee: Amanda Ribeiro dos Santos
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências (FC). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Bauru. Bauru , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Mucormycosis is a severe fungal infection, caused by fungus from the order Mucorales. The genus Rhizopus is responsible for 70% of the cases. It is the third most common of invasive fungal infections in immunocompromised patients, with mortality rates over 90%. Despite the importance of the disease, few reports were carried out in order to study immunological aspect involved in the Rhizopus-host relationship. Considering the difficulties in performing researches in humans, we aimed to study some strain of mice which one would be an appropriated murine experimental model. Females Swiss, BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice, will be divide into three groups: G1) mice will be infected by intravenous inoculation with 3x104 spores of Rhizopus sp; G2) other by intratracheal inoculation with 3x104 spores of Rhizopus sp; G3) the control group will be composed by mice which and submit to the same procedure, but inoculated only with sterile saline solution. After 7, 14 and 30 days of the fungus inoculation, the mice will be sacrificed and evaluated as follows: samples of spleen, brain, liver, lung and kidney will be submitted to microbiological and histological analyses. Peritoneal cells from G1 group (mice inoculated by intravenous route) and bronchoalveolar lavage from G2 group (mice inoculated by intra-tracheal route) will be cultivate and submit to determination of hydrogen peroxide, nitric oxide, TNF-±, IL-10 and IL -6 levels.

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)

DOS SANTOS, AMANDA RIBEIRO; FRAGA-SILVA, THAIS FERNANDA; ALMEIDA-DONANZAM, DEBORA DE FATIMA; FINATTO, ANGELA CAROLINA; MARCHETTI, CAMILA; ANDRADE, MARIA IZILDA; DE ARRUDA, OLAVO SPERANZA; PARREIRA DE ARRUDA, MARIA SUELI; VENTURINI, JAMES. Is the production of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species by macrophages associated with better infectious control in female mice with experimentally disseminated and pulmonary mucormycosis?. PLoS One, v. 17, n. 12, p. 17-pg., 2022-12-15. (13/15513-3)

DOS SANTOS, AMANDA R.; FRAGA-SILVA, THAIS F.; ALMEIDA, DEBORA DE FATIMA; DOS SANTOS, RODOLFO F.; FINATO, ANGELA C.; AMORIM, BARBARA C.; ANDRADE, I, MARIA; SOARES, CLEVERSON T.; LARA, VANESSA S.; ALMEIDA, NARA L. M.; et al. Rhizopus-host interplay of disseminated mucormycosis in immunocompetent mice. FUTURE MICROBIOLOGY, v. 15, n. 9, p. 739-752, JUN 2020. (13/15513-3)

DOS SANTOS, AMANDA RIBEIRO; FRAGA-SILVA, THAIS FERNANDA; ALMEIDA-DONANZAM, DEBORA DE FATIMA; DOS SANTOS, RODOLFO FERREIRA; FINATO, ANGELA CAROLINA; SOARES, CLEVERSON TEIXEIRA; LARA, VANESSA SOARES; MARTINS ALMEIDA, NARA LIGIA; ANDRADE, MARIA IZILDA; DE ARRUDA, OLAVO SPERANZA; et al. FN-gamma Mediated Signaling Improves Fungal Clearance in Experimental Pulmonary Mucormycosi. Mycopathologia, v. 187, n. 1, OCT 2021. (13/15513-3)