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Rodrigues da Cunha GM, Azevedo MA, Nogueira DS, Clímaco MDC, Valencia Ayala E, Jimenez Chunga JA, La Valle RJY, da Cunha Galvão LM, Chiari E, Brito CRN, Soares RP, Nogueira PM, Fujiwara RT, Gazzinelli R, Hincapie R, Chaves CS, Oliveira FMS, Finn MG, Marques AF. α-Gal immunization positively impacts Trypanosoma cruzi colonization of heart tissue in a mouse model. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2021; 15:e0009613. [PMID: 34314435 PMCID: PMC8345864 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0009613] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/22/2021] [Revised: 08/06/2021] [Accepted: 06/30/2021] [Indexed: 01/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Chagas disease, caused by the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, is considered endemic in more than 20 countries but lacks both an approved vaccine and limited treatment for its chronic stage. Chronic infection is most harmful to human health because of long-term parasitic infection of the heart. Here we show that immunization with a virus-like particle vaccine displaying a high density of the immunogenic α-Gal trisaccharide (Qβ-αGal) induced several beneficial effects concerning acute and chronic T. cruzi infection in α1,3-galactosyltransferase knockout mice. Approximately 60% of these animals were protected from initial infection with high parasite loads. Vaccinated animals also produced high anti-αGal IgG antibody titers, improved IFN-γ and IL-12 cytokine production, and controlled parasitemia in the acute phase at 8 days post-infection (dpi) for the Y strain and 22 dpi for the Colombian strain. In the chronic stage of infection (36 and 190 dpi, respectively), all of the vaccinated group survived, showing significantly decreased heart inflammation and clearance of amastigote nests from the heart tissue.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Maíra Araújo Azevedo
- Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Departamento de Parasitologia, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
| | - Denise Silva Nogueira
- Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Departamento de Parasitologia, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
| | | | | | - Juan Atilio Jimenez Chunga
- Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Faculdad de Ciencias Biologicas, Escuela Profesional de Microbiología y Parasitología—Laboratorio de Parasitología en Fauna Silvestre y Zoonosis, Lima, Peru
| | - Raul Jesus Ynocente La Valle
- Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Faculdad de Ciencias Biologicas, Escuela Profesional de Microbiología y Parasitología—Laboratorio de Parasitología en Fauna Silvestre y Zoonosis, Lima, Peru
| | | | - Egler Chiari
- Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Departamento de Parasitologia, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
| | - Carlos Ramon Nascimento Brito
- Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte—Centro de Ciências da Saúde—Departamento de Análises Clínicas e Toxicológicas, Natal, Brazil
| | | | | | | | - Ricardo Gazzinelli
- Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Departamento de Parasitologia, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
- Instituto René Rachou/FIOCRUZ–MG, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
| | - Robert Hincapie
- School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, School of Biological Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America
| | - Carlos-Sanhueza Chaves
- School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, School of Biological Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America
| | | | - M. G. Finn
- School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, School of Biological Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America
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