Effect of exposure to cigarette smoke in a murine model in the reactivation of paracoccidioidomycosis

• Grant number: 17/12374-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: February 01, 2018
• End date: December 31, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Medicine - Medical Clinics
• Principal Investigator: Gil Benard
• Grantee: Flaviano Luiz Batista da Silva
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina (FM). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Paracoccidioidomycosis (PCM) is a systemic mycosis endemic in Latin America. Clinical manifestations of the disease usually resolve spontaneously; however, the fungus may persist in quiescent foci with the subsequent development of disease by endogenous reactivation. This event may coincide with changes in the pattern of the host immune system. In this regard, the high frequency of cigarette smoking among patients with PCM, which exceeds 93%, appears to be a risk factor for the development of this mycosis. Moreover, previous studies have demonstrated the immunomodulatory effects of nicotinic via anti-inflammatory pathway of the vagus nerve, which signals to peripheral tissues via nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, attenuating proinflammatory cytokine release by alveolar macrophages. In addition, while some studies suggest that pulmonary residual fibrotic lesions are due to persistent antigenic stimulation, others point to cigarette smoke as the leading cause of the functional disability observed in patients with PCM. Thus, the study of the influence of cigarette smoking in a murine model of PCM is one of the possible ways to establish the impact of cigarette smoking on the reactivation and on the respiratory sequelae of the disease. (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)

RENATA BUCCHERI; AMARO NUNES DUARTE-NETO; FLAVIANO LUIZ BATISTA SILVA; GABRIELLE CARVALHO HADDAD; LEANDRO BUFFONI ROQUE DA SILVA; RAYMUNDO AZEVEDO NETTO; FELIPE LOURENÇO LEDESMA; CARLOS PELLESCHI TABORDA; GIL BENARD. Chronic exposure to cigarette smoke transiently worsens the disease course in a mouse model of pulmonary paracoccidioidomycosis. Revista do Instituto de Medicina Tropical de São Paulo, v. 64, 2022-11-14. (17/12374-3, 16/08730-6)