Department of Animal Clinics, College of Veterinary Medicine, UNESP-Univ Estadual Paulista, Araçatuba, São Paulo, Brazil.
Parasite Immunol. 2011 Jun;33(6):330-4. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-3024.2011.01285.x.
Inflammation causes increases in the level of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), which, in central nervous system (CNS), are associated with neuroinflammation and disruption of blood-brain barrier. Analysis of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is pivotal for detecting diseases in CNS and, although a specific diagnosis may not be achieved, this analysis is helpful to confirm the diagnosis or to rule out relevant differential diagnoses. This study examined the levels of MMP-2 and MMP-9 in the CSF of dogs using gelatin zymography to verify possible alterations in these enzymes during natural systemic infection with Leishmania chagasi. Latent and active forms of MMP-2 were detected in some dogs of both groups, with high levels in the control group. In contrast, latent and active forms of MMP-9 were detected only in some animals with leishmaniasis. These results clearly demonstrate that MMP-9 is elevated in CSF of dogs with visceral leishmaniasis (VL). Although these results are preliminary, they suggest that MMP-9 might play a role in disruption of blood-brain barrier and/or blood-CSF barrier. While the presence of MMPs in CSF is not a condition exclusive to VL, their presence and persistence in CSF supports the hypothesis of an inflammatory state within CNS of dogs with VL.
炎症会导致基质金属蛋白酶（MMPs）水平升高，而这些蛋白酶与中枢神经系统（CNS）中的神经炎症和血脑屏障破坏有关。分析脑脊液（CSF）对于检测 CNS 中的疾病至关重要，尽管可能无法做出特定诊断，但该分析有助于确认诊断或排除相关鉴别诊断。本研究使用明胶酶谱法检测了感染恰加斯利什曼原虫的自然系统性感染犬 CSF 中的 MMP-2 和 MMP-9 水平，以验证这些酶在感染过程中是否发生了变化。在两组犬中均检测到 MMP-2 的潜伏和活性形式，对照组中 MMP-2 的水平较高。相反，只有在一些利什曼病动物中才检测到 MMP-9 的潜伏和活性形式。这些结果清楚地表明，MMP-9 在患有内脏利什曼病（VL）的犬 CSF 中升高。尽管这些结果是初步的，但它们表明 MMP-9 可能在血脑屏障和/或血脑脊液屏障的破坏中发挥作用。虽然 CSF 中 MMPs 的存在并不是 VL 所特有的条件，但它们在 CSF 中的存在和持续存在支持了 VL 犬 CNS 存在炎症状态的假说。
