Avaliação da influência do óxido nítrico durante a infecção por Corynebacterium Pseudotuberculosis em modelo murino

A Linfadenite Caseosa, causada por Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis (C. pseudotuberculosis, é uma enfermidade de alta prevalência nos rebanhos de pequenos ruminantes da região semi-árida brasileira, trazendo grandes prejuízos particularmente para os pequenos produtores, pois a criação desses animais é a principal atividade de subsistência nesta região. O presente trabalho teve como objetivo avaliar aspectos da resposta imune de camundongos da linhagem C57/Black 6 selvagem e C57/Black 6 Knockout para o óxido nítrico (KO-NO), durante a infecção experimental por C. pseudotuberculosis. A utilização de animais Knockout possibilitou a compreensão da atuação de alguns tipos celulares do sistema imune frente ao patógeno, já que se sabe que o óxido nítrico é um importante agente na eliminação de microrganismos intracelulares. Para tanto, foram utilizados e eutanasiados 28 animais em dois tempos (7 e 14 dias), divididos em quatro grupos, a saber: grupo 1 – controle – com 4 animais selvagens; grupo 2 - infectado por C. pseudotuberculosis – com 10 animais selvagens; grupo 3 – controle – com 4 animais KO-NO; e grupo 4 – infectado por C. pseudotuberculosis – com 10 animais KO-NO. Na metodologia avaliamos a suscetibilidade de camundongos KO-NO, na infecção, verificando que animais C57/Black 6 KO-NO são susceptíveis à infecção por C. pseudotuberculosis com mortalidade observada a partir do 4º dia, o que indica a importância dessa molécula na defesa inata contra essa bactéria. No estudo de células do lavado peritoneal os neutrófilos foram as células encontradas em maior número no infiltrado dos animais KO-NO, o que pode indicar um mecanismo compensatório pela ausência do óxido nítrico. Com o estudo do baço observou-se a presença de linfócitos, com predomínio de TCD8 entre as células esplênicas de ambos os grupos, o que sugere a importância dessa sub-população na resposta imune contra esse microorganismo. A partir da presença de granulomas verificou-se a maior presença nos animais KO-NO infectados com 7 dias, sendo os linfonodos os mais afetados, o que aponta também para uma tentativa compensatória de conter a infecção; constatou-se uma maior recuperação bacteriana de linfonodo mesentério nos camundongos KO-NO, provavelmente devido a sua maior capacidade de escape. Foi realizado também o estudo de anticorpos séricos, através da detecção de IgG total e subclasses, o qual foi observado uma produção 14 dias pós infecção, tanto nos animais selvagens como nos KO-NO, similar aos animais controle, o que indica uma resposta humoral tardia por esse tipo de anticorpo para esse microorganismo. Os resultados obtidos sugerem a importância do óxido nítrico no processo de combate à infecção por este microrganismo, posto que os animais KO-NO para esta substância foram os mais afetados pelo processo infeccioso instalado.Universidade Federal da Bahia, Instituto de Ciências da Saúd

Archives of Oral Biology

Texto completo: acesso restrito. p. 314–320Objective Modulation of cell-mediated immunity by microorganisms in periodontal diseases has been widely studied; however, the proliferative activity and/or programmed death of mononuclear cells under periodontopathogenic stimuli are not yet well understood. The aim of this study was to investigate in vitro proliferation and death of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) upon stimulation with Porphyromonas gingivalis (Pg) antigens. Design In 19 patients with chronic periodontitis (CP) and 16 controls without periodontitis (NP) the following clinical parameters were evaluated: bleeding on probing, probing depth, and clinical attachment level. PBMC were cultured under Pg stimuli and apoptosis/necrosis and proliferation assays were carried out for 18 and 48 h, respectively. Fluorescence of labelled cells was determined using flow cytometry. Results PBMC of CP and NP subjects exhibited a lower proliferative response to Pg LPS (p < 0.05) and HmuY protein (p < 0.001) compared with non-stimulated cells. Early apoptosis was induced by Pg LPS (p < 0.01) and Pg extract (p < 0.05), whilst all antigens induced late apoptosis (Pg LPS: p < 0.001; Pg extract: p < 0.001; HmuY: p < 0.01) and necrosis (Pg LPS: p < 0.01; Pg extract: p < 0.001; HmuY: p < 0.001). Pg LPS induced higher late apoptosis than HmuY (p < 0.05). Only Pg LPS-induced necrosis tended to be higher in CP compared with NP. Conclusions The inhibitory effect of cell proliferation caused by Pg LPS and HmuY protein is not observed when these antigens comprise Pg extract. Despite induced apoptosis, some still unknown mechanism determines the inflammatory outcome in cell death stimulated by HmuY

Journal of Periodontal Research

Texto completo: acesso restrito. p. 27–32Background and Objective: Porphyromonas gingivalis, an anaerobic gram-negative bacterium, is associated with chronic periodontitis. This study was undertaken to evaluate the production of interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-8 and IL-10 by human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) stimulated with P. gingivalis antigens and to assess the levels of serum immunoglobulin (Ig)G, IgA and IgG subclasses raised against P. gingivalis HmuY protein. Material and Methods:  PBMC from patients with chronic periodontitis (CP) and from nonperiodontitis (NP) control subjects were stimulated with P. gingivalis antigens, and the cytokine levels in the culture supernatants were determined by ELISA. The specificity of serum antibodies raised against HmuY was analyzed by Western blotting and by ELISA. Results:  Compared with the NP controls, the CP patients produced higher levels of total serum IgG and IgG1 specific for P. gingivalis HmuY. No differences were found between CP and NP groups in the production of IL-1β and IL-8 by PBMC stimulated with total P. gingivalis antigens. Only P. gingivalis lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induced higher levels of IL-10 in the CP group. Higher levels of IL-1β and IL-10 were induced by HmuY than by other antigens derived from the wild-type P. gingivalis strains. In contrast, total antigens derived from the hmuY-deletion mutant strain induced the production of significantly higher levels of IL-8 and significantly lower levels of IL-1β. Conclusion:  Our data suggest that P. gingivalis HmuY may be considered an immunogenic protein associated with host–pathogen interactions

Journal of Periodontology

Acesso restrito: p. 650-655Background: In chronic periodontitis (CP), the gene polymorphism of interleukin-6 (IL-6) to 174C/G has been associated with the altered production of this cytokine. The aim of this pilot study is to compare the allelic and genotypic frequencies in patients with CP with control individuals without periodontitis (NP) and to measure the production of IL-6 by whole blood cells stimulated with Porphyromonas gingivalis HmuY protein. Methods: DNA was isolated from peripheral blood cells of 49 patients with CP and 60 control individuals classified as NP, and genotyping was performed by polymerase chain reaction using sequence-specific primers. Whole blood cells from 29 patients with CP and 30 control individuals were stimulated for 48 hours with HmuY, and IL-6 levels were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results: The proportion of individuals carrying the G allele at position –174 of the IL-6 gene was higher in the group with CP (85.7%) than in the normal control group (73.3%; P <0.03). P. gingivalis HmuY-induced production of IL-6 was higher in the group with CP (P <0.05). Conclusions: Our findings suggest that P. gingivalis HmuY may be associated with increased IL-6 production during CP. Furthermore, patients with periodontitis and individuals with higher HmuY-induced production of IL-6 show a high frequency of the G allele at position –174