Protective actions of melatonin against heart damage during chronic Chagas disease

Autor(es)

Rodrigues Oliveira, Luiz Gustavo ^[1] ; Kuehn, Christian Collins ^[1] ; dos Santos, Carla Domingues ^[1] ; Miranda, Mariza Abreu ^[2] ; Bronzon da Costa, Cassia Mariana ^[1] ; Mendonca, Vagner Jose ^[3] ; do Prado Junior, Jose Clovis ^[1]

Afiliação do(s) autor(es)

^[1] Univ Sao Paulo, Fac Ciencias Farmaceut Ribeirao Preto, Dept Anal Clin Toxicol & Bromatol, Parasitol Lab, BR-14040903 Ribeirao Preto, SP - Brazil

^[2] Univ Sao Paulo, Fac Ciencias Farmaceut Ribeirao Preto, Dept Ciencias Farmaceut, Lab Prod Nat & Sintet, BR-14040903 Ribeirao Preto, SP - Brazil

^[3] Univ Estadual Paulista, FCF UNESP, Fac Ciencias Farmaceut, Parasitol Lab, Araraquara, SP - Brazil

• Tipo de documento: Artigo Científico
• Fonte: Acta Tropica; v. 128, n. 3, p. 652-658, DEC 2013.
• Citações Web of Science: 16

Resumo

Chronic cardiomyopathy is the most important clinical form of Chagas disease, and it is characterised by myocarditis that is associated with fibrosis and organ dysfunction. Alternative treatment options are important tools to modulate host immune responses. The main goal of this work was to evaluate the anti-inflammatory actions of melatonin during the chronic phase of Chagas disease. TNF-alpha, IL-10 and nitrite concentrations were evaluated as predictive factors of immune modulation. Creatine phosphokinase-MB (CK-MB), cardiac inflammatory foci and heart weight were assessed to evaluate the efficacy of the melatonin treatment. Male Wistar rats were infected with 1 x 10(5) blood trypomastigotes of the Y strain of Trypanosoma cruzi and kept untreated for 60 days to mimic chronic infection. After this period, the rats were orally treated with melatonin 50 mg/kg/day, and the experiments were performed 90, 120, and 180 days post-infection. Melatonin treatment significantly increased the concentration of IL-10 and reduced the concentrations of NO and TNF-alpha produced by cardiomyocytes. Furthermore, it led to decreased heart weight, serum CK-MB levels and inflammatory foci when compared to the untreated and infected control groups. We conclude that melatonin therapy is effective at protecting animals against the harmful cardiac inflammatory response that is characteristic of chronic T. cruzi infection. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. (AU)

• Processo FAPESP: 09/14070-5 - Potenciais ações terapêuticas da associação melatonina-meloxicam sobre a cardiomiopatia chagásica crônica em ratos Wistar infectados pela cepa Y de T. cruzi.
• Beneficiário: Luiz Gustavo Rodrigues Oliveira
• Modalidade de apoio: Bolsas no Brasil - Doutorado
• Processo FAPESP: 10/02222-2 - Potenciais ações terapêuticas da associação melatonina-meloxicam sobre a cardiomiopatia chagásica crônica em ratos Wistar infectados pela cepa Y de T. cruzi.
• Beneficiário: José Clóvis do Prado Júnior
• Modalidade de apoio: Auxílio à Pesquisa - Regular