Laboratório de Imunomodulação e Protozoologia do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz/FIOCRUZ, Pavilhão Carlos Chagas, 3 degrees andar, Av. Brasil, 4365, Manguinhos, CEP 20045-900, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Exp Parasitol. 2010 Mar;124(3):315-8. doi: 10.1016/j.exppara.2009.11.006. Epub 2009 Nov 26.
Recent studies have provided some insights into Leishsmania (Leishmania) amazonensis muscular infection in dogs, although, muscular disease due to leishmaniasis has been poorly documented. The aim of our study was to evaluate involvement of Leishmania in muscular infection of two distinct mouse strains (BALB/c and C3H.He), with different genetic backgrounds. BALB/c mice, susceptible to Leishmania infection, showed, at the beginning of infection, a great number of infected macrophages among muscle fibers; however, in C3H.He resistant mice, muscle fibers were less damaged than in BALB/c mice, but some parasitized macrophages could be seen among them. A follow up of the infection showed an intense inflammatory infiltrate mainly composed of infected macrophages in BALB/c muscles and the presence of amastigotes within muscle fibers; while C3H.He mice exhibited a moderate inflammatory infiltrate among skeletal muscle fibers and an absence of amastigotes. Total destruction of muscles was observed in BALB/c mice in the late phase of infection (day 90) while C3H.He mice showed a process of muscle repair. We concluded that: (1) the muscles of BALB/c mice were more affected by leishmaniasis than those of C3/H.He mice; (2) Leishmania amastigotes are capable of infecting muscular fibers, as observed in BALB/c mice; (3) as inflammatory infiltrate is less intense in C3H.He mice these animals are capable of restoring muscular fibers.
最近的研究为犬利什曼原虫（Leishmania）亚马逊亚种肌肉感染提供了一些见解，尽管由于利什曼病引起的肌肉疾病记录甚少。我们的研究目的是评估两种不同遗传背景的小鼠（BALB/c 和 C3H.He）中利什曼原虫对肌肉感染的影响。易感染利什曼原虫的 BALB/c 小鼠在感染初期，肌肉纤维中存在大量感染的巨噬细胞；然而，在抵抗利什曼原虫的 C3H.He 小鼠中，肌肉纤维的损伤程度低于 BALB/c 小鼠，但也可以看到一些感染的巨噬细胞。感染的后续观察显示，BALB/c 肌肉中的炎症浸润主要由感染的巨噬细胞组成，并且肌肉纤维内存在无鞭毛体；而 C3H.He 小鼠则表现出骨骼肌纤维中的中度炎症浸润，并且不存在无鞭毛体。在感染后期（第 90 天），BALB/c 小鼠的肌肉完全受损，而 C3H.He 小鼠则显示出肌肉修复的过程。我们得出结论：（1）BALB/c 小鼠的肌肉比 C3/H.He 小鼠更容易受到利什曼病的影响；（2）利什曼原虫无鞭毛体能够感染肌肉纤维，如在 BALB/c 小鼠中观察到的那样；（3）由于 C3H.He 小鼠的炎症浸润程度较轻，这些动物能够恢复肌肉纤维。
