Rajapakse R, Mousli M, Pfaff AW, Uring-Lambert B, Marcellin L, Bronner C, Jeanblanc M, Villard O, Letscher-Bru V, Klein JP, Candolfi E. 1,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D3 induces splenocyte apoptosis and enhances BALB/c mice sensitivity to toxoplasmosis.
J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol 2005;
96:179-85. [PMID:
15939587 DOI:
10.1016/j.jsbmb.2005.03.002]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/12/2004] [Accepted: 03/10/2005] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Abstract
The hormonal form of Vitamin D, 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3, is well known for its immunosuppressive, anti-proliferative and pro-apoptotic activities. In the present work, we studied the effect of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 on Toxoplasma gondii-infected mice. We observed that 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 reduces the survival rate of infected mice by up to 37% at day 10 post-infection compared to untreated infected mice (P < 0.0001). IFN-gamma and IL-12p40 levels were significantly reduced by 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 in infected mice sera indicating an inhibition of Th-1-type cytokines. CD4+ T lymphocyte and splenocyte counts were also reduced following 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 treatment and a marked induction of apoptosis, accompanied with down-regulation of the anti-apoptotic proteins Bcl-2 and Bcl-X(L), was observed. The above results indicate that 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 induces splenocyte apoptosis and enhances host susceptibility to toxoplasmosis.
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