Influence of murine Toxocara canis infection on plasma and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid eosinophil numbers and its correlation with cytokine levels

• Published in: Veterinary parasitology Vol. 134; no. 1; pp. 121 - 130
• Main Authors: Pecinali, Ney Roner, Gomes, Rachel N., Amendoeira, Fabio C., Bastos, Augusto C.M. Pereira, Martins, Maria J.Q.A., Pegado, Claudia S., Bastos, Otílio M. Pereira, Bozza, Patrícia T., Castro-Faria-Neto, Hugo C.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier B.V 25.11.2005
• Subjects: animal disease models; Animals; blood plasma; body fluids; Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid - cytology; Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid - immunology; Chemokine; Chemokine CCL11; Chemokine CCL5 - blood; chemokines; Chemokines, CC - blood; Cytokine; cytokines; Disease Models, Animal; Eosinophils; Eosinophils - cytology; Eosinophils - immunology; Eosinophils - parasitology; eotaxon; experimental infection; Female; Heart - parasitology; Interferon-gamma - blood; interferons; interleukin-6; Interleukin-6 - blood; Kidney - parasitology; larva migrans; larval migration; lesions (animal); Liver - parasitology; Lung - parasitology; Male; Mice; Mice, Inbred BALB C; Mouse; nematode larvae; Statistics, Nonparametric; tissue distribution; Toxocara canis; Toxocara canis - immunology; toxocariasis; Toxocariasis - blood; Toxocariasis - immunology; Toxocariasis - parasitology; VLM; Chemokine; Toxocara canis; Mouse; VLM; Cytokine; Eosinophils
• ISSN: 0304-4017; 1873-2550
• DOI: 10.1016/j.vetpar.2005.06.022

Toxocara canis is a nematode of the Ascaridae family that normally parasites the small intestine of canid species. Humans are accidentally infected upon ingestion of embryonated eggs, and can manifest several clinical alterations such as fever, hepatomegaly, splenomegaly, respiratory symptoms, muscle pain and anorexia. In the present work, we investigated the kinetics of tissue distribution of L2 larva in lungs, liver, kidney, brain, skeletal muscle and myocardium. Also, we analyzed the blood and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BAL) for levels of IL-6, IFN-γ, eotaxin and Regulated on Activation Normal T Cell Expressed and Secreted (RANTES) in experimental murine T. canis infection. We observed liver, lung and kidney lesions correlated to larva migration as early as the first day of infection. After the seventh post-infection day, larva could also be detected in brain, skeletal muscle and heart, as an indicator of biphasic migration pattern. Increased inflammatory activity was detected in BAL and plasma of infected animals, as was an intense eosinophil migration associated with an increase in the levels of all the cytokines studied. In conclusion, our results establish a tight correlation between tissue lesions caused by larva migration and increased plasma levels of pro-inflammatory and eosinophil chemotactic cytokines. Thus, murine T. canis infection may prove to be useful in understanding the role of cytokines in infection.