Relationship between progesterone levels and genital system injuries of bitches naturally infected with Leishmania infantum

• Grant number: 21/07359-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: October 01, 2021
• End date: September 30, 2022
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Veterinary Medicine - Animal Pathology
• Principal Investigator: Rosemeri de Oliveira Vasconcelos
• Grantee: Beatriz Cristiane Mioto
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias (FCAV). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Jaboticabal. Jaboticabal , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Visceral Leishmaniasis (VL) is an anthropozoonosis, widely distributed around the world, which can affect humans, dogs, and wild animals, whose etiological agent is the protozoan Leishmania infantum. Dogs are considered the main reservoir of the disease in urban areas, representing a major public health problem. The symptoms of the disease are multivariate and may also affect the reproductive system. The difference between resistance and susceptibility to infection by Leishmania depends on the type of Th1 or Th2 response involving several cytokines. Steroid hormones, such as estrogen and progesterone, are important regulators of uterine immunity in different phases of the estrous cycle. The present study aims to evaluate lesions in the genital system of bitches naturally infected with L. infantum and to associate them with the parasite load and serum levels of progesterone. Therefore, in the study 20 bitches with VL will be used. The dosage of progesterone will be done to determine the phase of the estrous cycle and the parasite load will be determined by immunohistochemistry. For statistical analysis, Kruskal-Wallis nonparametric tests and Dunn's nonparametric test will be used with the aid of the Graphpad Prism software (version 6.01, 2012), P<0.05. The results of this study can allow us to observe whether there is a hormonal influence on the survival of the parasite Leishmania spp. in the bitch's genital tract. (AU)