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https://www.arca.fiocruz.br/handle/icict/7257
THE PRESENCE OF TREGS DOES NOT PRECLUDE IMMUNITY TO REINFECTION WITH LEISHMANIA BRAZILIENSIS
Author
Affilliation
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Centro de Pesquisa Gonçalo Moniz. Salvador, BA, Brasil
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Centro de Pesquisa Gonçalo Moniz. Salvador, BA, Brasil
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Centro de Pesquisa Gonçalo Moniz. Salvador, BA, Brasil
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Centro de Pesquisa Gonçalo Moniz. Salvador, BA, Brasil / Universidade Federal da Bahia. Salvador, BA, Brasil / Instituto de Investigação em Imunologia. Brasil
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Centro de Pesquisa Gonçalo Moniz. Salvador, BA, Brasil / Universidade Federal da Bahia. Salvador, BA, Brasil / Instituto de Investigação em Imunologia. Brasil
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Centro de Pesquisa Gonçalo Moniz. Salvador, BA, Brasil / Instituto de Investigação em Imunologia. Brasil
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Centro de Pesquisa Gonçalo Moniz. Salvador, BA, Brasil
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Centro de Pesquisa Gonçalo Moniz. Salvador, BA, Brasil
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Centro de Pesquisa Gonçalo Moniz. Salvador, BA, Brasil / Universidade Federal da Bahia. Salvador, BA, Brasil / Instituto de Investigação em Imunologia. Brasil
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Centro de Pesquisa Gonçalo Moniz. Salvador, BA, Brasil / Universidade Federal da Bahia. Salvador, BA, Brasil / Instituto de Investigação em Imunologia. Brasil
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Centro de Pesquisa Gonçalo Moniz. Salvador, BA, Brasil / Instituto de Investigação em Imunologia. Brasil
Abstract
Leishmania spp. cause a broad spectrum of diseases collectively known as leishmaniasis. Leishmania braziliensis
is the main etiological agent of American cutaneous leishmaniasis and mucocutaneous leishmaniasis.
During experimental infection with L. braziliensis, BALB/c mice develop an adaptive immune
response that is associated with lesion healing and, in parallel, parasite persistence within draining
lymph nodes (dLNs). In the Leishmania major model of cutaneous leishmaniasis, regulatory T cells (Tregs)
play an important role in immune regulation, preventing pathological immune responses but at the same
time precluding sterile cure. In this study we investigated the role of Tregs during experimental infection
with L. braziliensis. CD4+CD25+ T cells were detected throughout the duration of clinical disease both at
the ear and in dLNs of infected mice. These cells expressed Treg markers such as glucocorticoid-induced
TNF-receptor-related protein (GITR), the a chain of the aeb7 integrin (CD103), and the forkhead/winged
helix transcription factor, Foxp3, and were able to suppress the proliferation of CD4+CD25 cells. Importantly,
a high frequency of Foxp3+ cells accumulated at the site of infection and in dLNs. We next investigated
the outcome of a reinfection with L. braziliensis in terms of Treg distribution and disease
reactivation. Interestingly, a secondary inoculation with L. braziliensis did not preclude an efficient recall
response to L. braziliensis at a distal site, despite the presence of Tregs. Within dLNs, reinfection did not
promote parasite dissemination or a differential recruitment of either CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ or CD4+IL-10+ T
cells. On the contrary, parasites were mainly detected in the LN draining the primary infection site where
a high frequency of CD4+IFN-c+ T cells was also present. Collectively these data show that during experimental
infection, Tregs are present in healed mice but this population does not compromise an effective
immune response upon reinfection with L. braziliensis.
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