Human Anatomy Sector, ICBIM, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, 38.400-902, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
Hum Pathol. 2011 Apr;42(4):522-32. doi: 10.1016/j.humpath.2010.06.016. Epub 2011 Jan 3.
Chagas disease is one of the most serious parasitic diseases of Latin America, with a social and economic impact far outweighing the combined effects of other parasitic diseases such as malaria, leishmaniasis, and schistosomiasis. In the chronic phase of this disease, the destruction of enteric nervous system components leads to megacolon development. Besides neurons, the enteric nervous system is constituted by enteric glial cells, representing an extensive but relatively poorly described population within the gastrointestinal tract. Several lines of evidence suggest that enteric glial cells represent an equivalent of central nervous system astrocytes. Previous data suggest that enteric glia and neurons are active in the enteric nervous system during intestinal inflammatory and immune responses. To evaluate whether these cells act as antigen-presenting cells, we investigated the expression of molecules responsible for activation of T cells, such as HLA-DR complex class II and costimulatory molecules (CD80 and CD86), by neurons and enteric glial cells. Our results indicate that only enteric glial cells of chagasic patients with megacolon express HLA-DR complex class II and costimulatory molecules, and hence they present the attributes necessary to act as antigen-presenting cells.
恰加斯病是拉丁美洲最严重的寄生虫病之一，其社会和经济影响远远超过疟疾、利什曼病和血吸虫病等其他寄生虫病的综合影响。在这种疾病的慢性阶段，肠神经系统成分的破坏会导致巨结肠的发展。除了神经元，肠神经系统还由肠胶质细胞组成，这些细胞构成了胃肠道中广泛但相对描述较少的群体。有几条证据表明，肠胶质细胞代表中枢神经系统星形胶质细胞的等效物。先前的数据表明，肠胶质细胞和神经元在肠道炎症和免疫反应期间在肠神经系统中活跃。为了评估这些细胞是否作为抗原呈递细胞发挥作用，我们研究了负责 T 细胞激活的分子（如 HLA-DR 复合物 II 类和共刺激分子（CD80 和 CD86））在神经元和肠胶质细胞中的表达。我们的结果表明，只有患有巨结肠的恰加斯病患者的肠胶质细胞表达 HLA-DR 复合物 II 类和共刺激分子，因此它们具有作为抗原呈递细胞的必要属性。
