Nitric oxide production by Peromyscus yucatanicus (Rodentia) infected with Leishmania (Leishmania) mexicana

• Published in: Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz Vol. 108; no. 2; pp. 172 - 177
• Main Authors: Loría-Cervera, Elsy Nalleli, Sosa-Bibiano, Erika Ivett, Villanueva-Lizama, Liliana Estefanía, Van Wynsberghe, Nicole Raymonde, Canto-Lara, Silvia Beatriz, Batún-Cutz, José Luis, Andrade-Narváez, Fernando José
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English; Portuguese
• Published: Brazil Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Ministério da Saúde 01.04.2013; Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (FIOCRUZ)
• Subjects: Animals; Cricetidae; Disease Models, Animal; Kinetoplastida; Leishmania (L.) mexicana; Leishmania mexicana; Leishmania mexicana - immunology; Leishmaniasis, Cutaneous - immunology; Macrophages, Peritoneal - immunology; Macrophages, Peritoneal - parasitology; nitric oxide; Nitric Oxide - biosynthesis; PARASITOLOGY; Peromyscus - metabolism; Peromyscus - parasitology; Peromyscus yucatanicus; Rodentia; TROPICAL MEDICINE; Trypanosomatidae; nitric oxide; Peromyscus yucatanicus; Leishmania (L.) mexicana
• ISSN: 0074-0276; 1678-8060; 1678-8060; 0074-0276
• DOI: 10.1590/0074-0276108022013008

Peromyscus yucatanicus (Rodentia: Cricetidae) is a primary reservoir of Leishmania (Leishmania) mexicana (Kinetoplastida: Trypanosomatidae). Nitric oxide (NO) generally plays a crucial role in the containment and elimination of Leishmania. The aim of this study was to determine the amount of NO produced by P. yucatanicus infected with L. (L.) mexicana. Subclinical and clinical infections were established in P. yucatanicus through inoculation with 1 x 10 2 and 2.5 x 10 6 promastigotes, respectively. Peritoneal macrophages were cultured alone or co-cultured with lymphocytes with or without soluble Leishmania antigen. The level of NO production was determined using the Griess reaction. The amount of NO produced was significantly higher (p ≤ 0.0001) in co-cultured macrophages and lymphocytes than in macrophages cultured alone. No differences in NO production were found between P. yucatanicus with subclinical L. (L.) mexicana infections and animals with clinical infections. These results support the hypothesis that the immunological mechanisms of NO production in P. yucatanicus are similar to those described in mouse models of leishmaniasis and, despite NO production, P. yucatanicus is unable to clear the parasite infection.