Escuela de Medicina Veterinaria, Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria y Recursos Naturales, Universidad Santo Tomás, Talca, Chile.
Centro de Investigación de Ovinos Para El Secano OVISNOVA, Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria y Recursos Naturales, Universidad Santo Tomás, Talca, Chile.
Vet Res. 2023 Nov 12;54(1):105. doi: 10.1186/s13567-023-01236-z.
Fasciola hepatica causes liver fluke disease, a worldwide neglected and re-emerging zoonotic disease, leading to hepatitis in humans and livestock. In the pathogenesis, flukes actively migrate through liver parenchyma provoking tissue damage. Here, parasites must confront leukocytes of the innate immune system in vivo. Polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN) are the most abundant granulocytes and first ones arriving at infection sites. PMN may display neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs), consisting of nuclear DNA, decorated with histones, enzymes, and antimicrobial peptides. We investigated for the first time whether F. hepatica soluble antigens (FhAg) can also trigger NETosis and innate immune reactions in exposed ovine PMN. Thus, isolated PMN were co-cultured with FhAg and NET formation was visualized by immunofluorescence and scanning electron microscopy analyses resulting in various phenotypes with spread NETs being the most detected in vitro. In line, NETs quantification via Picogreen®-fluorometric measurements revealed induction of anchored- and cell free NETs phenotypes. Live cell 3D-holotomographic microscopy revealed degranulation of stimulated PMN at 30 min exposure to FhAg. Functional PMN chemotaxis assays showed a significant increase of PMN migration (p = 0.010) and intracellular ROS production significantly increased throughout time (p = 0.028). Contrary, metabolic activities profiles of FhAg-exposed PMN did not significantly increase. Finally, in vivo histopathological analysis on F. hepatica-parasitized liver tissue sections of sheep showed multifocal infiltration of inflammatory cells within liver parenchyma, and further fluorescence microscopy analyses confirmed NETs formation in vivo. Overall, we hypothesized that NET-formation is a relevant host defence mechanism that might have a role in the pathogenesis of fasciolosis in vivo.
肝片形吸虫引起肝片形吸虫病,是一种全球性被忽视和重新出现的人畜共患疾病,导致人类和家畜肝炎。在发病机制中,吸虫通过肝脏实质积极迁移,引起组织损伤。在这里,寄生虫必须在体内面对先天免疫系统的白细胞。多形核中性粒细胞(PMN)是最丰富的粒细胞,也是最先到达感染部位的细胞。PMN 可能表现出中性粒细胞胞外陷阱(NETs),由核 DNA 组成,用组蛋白、酶和抗菌肽装饰。我们首次研究了肝片形吸虫可溶性抗原(FhAg)是否也能在暴露的绵羊 PMN 中引发 NETosis 和先天免疫反应。因此,分离的 PMN 与 FhAg 共培养,通过免疫荧光和扫描电子显微镜分析观察到 NET 形成,导致体外检测到各种表型,其中扩散 NET 是最常见的。同样,通过 Picogreen®荧光测量法对 NET 进行定量,显示诱导了锚定和无细胞 NET 表型。活细胞 3D 全断层显微镜显示,在暴露于 FhAg 30 分钟后,PMN 脱颗粒。功能 PMN 趋化性测定显示 PMN 迁移显著增加(p=0.010),并且细胞内 ROS 产生随着时间的推移显著增加(p=0.028)。相反,暴露于 FhAg 的 PMN 的代谢活性谱没有显著增加。最后,对绵羊肝片形吸虫感染肝组织切片的体内组织病理学分析显示,肝实质内有多处炎症细胞浸润,进一步的荧光显微镜分析证实了体内 NET 的形成。总的来说,我们假设 NET 形成是一种相关的宿主防御机制,可能在体内 Fasciolosis 的发病机制中起作用。