Evaluation of the immunopathological mechanisms involved in acute lung injury in experimental malaria

Author(s)

Michelle Klein Sercundes

• Document type: Doctoral Thesis
• Press: São Paulo.
• Institution: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Instituto de Medicina Tropical de São Paulo (IMT)
• Defense date: 2015-02-04

Examining board members

Sabrina Epiphanio; Renato Barboza; Silvia Beatriz Boscardin; Hiro Goto; Maria Regina D'Imperio Lima

• Advisor: Sabrina Epiphanio

Abstract

Malaria is a global health problem that now affects approximately 207 million people, and led to the deaths of about 607,000 individuals only in 2013. In Brazil, 99% of the cases are concentrated in the Amazon where infections by Plasmodium vivax are the major cause of morbidity and which can also be fatal. Infections with Plasmodium spp. can lead to a serious respiratory condition including pulmonary complications named as acute lung injury (ALI) and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). ALI /ARDS is characterized by damage to the alveoli and the lung parenchyma, loss of epithelial barrier function of the alveoli and pulmonary capillary endothelial cells and, consequently, pulmonary edema noncardiogenic origin. Decreased capacity for gas exchange, increased leukocyte activity and inflammatory mediators in the lungs resulting in respiratory failure. The difficulty in studying human disease associated with lack of knowledge of factors involved in the syndrome and makes the pulmonary dysfunction become misunderstood and take more people to death. The central objective of this study was to determine and characterize the lung leukocytes profile, inflammatory factors and cell death that contribute to the development of ALI / ARDS associated with malaria. In this work was used as an experimental model the association between DBA/2 mice strain and the Plasmodium berghei ANKA murine parasite. In this model, 30-75% of mice develop acute pulmonary symptoms (ALI/ARDS) and the others died too late with hyperparasitaemia (HP). Developed from the respiratory parameters and parasitaemia a predictive model for classification of animals in ALI/ARDS or HP before the moment of death with high sensitivity and specificity. Our results show that alveolar macrophages and neutrophils were increased significantly in animals classified as ALI/ARDS and the depletion of these populations promotes the survival of the animals and not development of the syndrome. We also observed that CD4+ and CD8+ T cells produce large amounts of IFN-? in animals ALI/ARDS, however the immune system of these animals produce large amounts of IL-10 in order to regulate the inflammatory response. In our study we measured apoptosis in lung tissue and found that animals with ALI/ARDS have a larger number of cells dying compared to HP animals. We also saw that apoptosis of neutrophils and dendritic cells occur significantly in BAL of animals ALI/ARDS. The study of the expression of pro and anti-apoptotic genes showed that there is increased expression of Casp-3, Casp-9, Bad, Bid, Bak, FADD, and Ripk CAD-1 in animals ALI/ARDS, as that Bcl XL and Bcl2 are more expressed in HP animals. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 10/19439-4 - Assessment of the immunopathological mechanisms involved in malaria-associated acute lung injury
• Grantee: Michelle Klein Sercundes
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate