Department of Health Sciences, Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz (UESC), Ilhéus, BA, Brazil.
Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Universidade de São Paulo (USP), São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
Exp Parasitol. 2020 Mar;210:107846. doi: 10.1016/j.exppara.2020.107846. Epub 2020 Jan 28.
Leishmaniasis is a neglected disease caused by an intracellular protozoan parasite of the genus Leishmania. Infection starts when this protozoan replicates in a phagolysosomal compartment in macrophages, after evading host immune responses. The balance of Th1 and Th2 immune responses is crucial in leishmaniasis because it will determine whether the infection will be under control or if clinical complications will occur. The inflammasome, which is activated during Leishmania infection, involves the action of caspase-1 and release of the proinflammatory cytokines interleukin-1β and interleukin-18. Together, they contribute to the maintenance of an inflammatory response and pyroptosis. Here, we evaluated the serum levels of cytokines and the expression of circulating microRNAs related to inflammasome regulation in twenty-seven patients with cutaneous leishmaniasis in comparison to nine healthy individuals, in the context of the inflammasome activation. Evaluation of serum cytokines activation (IL-1β, IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, and IL-17) was performed by flow cytometry using CBA kits (cytometric beads array) while the expression of circulating microRNAs (miR-7, miR-133a, miR-146b, miR-155, miR-223, miR-328, and miR-342) in plasma was measured by quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Our results showed an increase of the expression of miR-7-5p (p < 10), miR-133a (p = 0.034), miR-146b (p = 0.003), miR-223-3p (p = 10), and miR-328-3p (p = 0.002), and cytokine levels for IL-1β (p = 0.0005), IL-6 (p = 0.001), and IL-17 (p = 0.001) in patients with cutaneous leishmaniasis compared to the controls. These results suggest that microRNAs and cytokines can play an important role in regulating the human immune responses to Leishmania infection. Our findings may contribute to the understanding of the mechanisms of the gene regulation during the cutaneous leishmaniasis and to the identification of possible biomarkers of the infection.
利什曼病是一种由利什曼原虫属的细胞内原生动物寄生虫引起的被忽视的疾病。当这种原生动物在巨噬细胞的吞噬溶酶体腔内复制,逃避宿主免疫反应时,感染就开始了。Th1 和 Th2 免疫反应的平衡在利什曼病中至关重要,因为它将决定感染是否得到控制,或者是否会发生临床并发症。在利什曼原虫感染过程中被激活的炎症小体涉及半胱天冬酶-1 的作用和前炎性细胞因子白细胞介素-1β 和白细胞介素-18 的释放。它们共同促进炎症反应和细胞焦亡的维持。在这里,我们评估了 27 例皮肤利什曼病患者与 9 例健康个体在炎症小体激活时的血清细胞因子水平和与炎症小体调节相关的循环 microRNAs 的表达。通过使用 CBA 试剂盒(流式细胞术珠阵列)通过流式细胞术评估血清细胞因子激活(IL-1β、IL-2、IL-4、IL-6、IL-10 和 IL-17),而通过定量聚合酶链反应测量血浆中循环 microRNAs(miR-7、miR-133a、miR-146b、miR-155、miR-223、miR-328 和 miR-342)的表达。我们的结果显示,miR-7-5p 的表达增加(p<0.0005)、miR-133a(p=0.034)、miR-146b(p=0.003)、miR-223-3p(p=10)和 miR-328-3p(p=0.002),以及细胞因子水平的 IL-1β(p=0.0005)、IL-6(p=0.001)和 IL-17(p=0.001)在皮肤利什曼病患者与对照组相比。这些结果表明,microRNAs 和细胞因子可以在调节人类对利什曼原虫感染的免疫反应中发挥重要作用。我们的发现可能有助于理解皮肤利什曼病期间基因调控的机制,并确定感染的可能生物标志物。
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