Thermal modulation of lung function in P. brasiliensis infection

• Grant number: 18/21521-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: November 01, 2018
• End date: October 31, 2019
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Immunology - Applied Immunology
• Principal Investigator: Alexandre Alarcon Steiner
• Grantee: Isabelle Monreal de Andrade Neiva
• Host Institution: Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas (ICB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 18/03418-0 - Hypothermia in Sepsis: causes and consequences, AP.TEM

Abstract

There is evidence indicating that hypothermia in severe forms of systemic inflammation does not reflect thermoregulatory failure but rather a regulated response that may have biological value by balancing the relationship between supply and demand of oxygen in endotoxic shock and by limiting neutrophil infiltrate in the lungs. However, such short-term benefits may have a cost in the development of long-term lymphocyte-dependent immune response. In this project, this question will be evaluated in the model of infection by the P. brasiliensis fungus in B10.A mice, a strain that responds to the fungus with a robust innate immune response and an inadequate acquired immune response. In preliminary experiments, we observed that the innate immune response of these animals is associated with the development of hypothermia, and that such hypothermia can be attenuated by exposure to a slightly warm environment. Such ambient temperature dependence will be used to test the hypothesis that the development of hypothermia in the acute phase of infection by P. brasiliensis compromises the ability of the mice to control infection in the late phase of infection and worsen pulmonary function at that stage.