Impact of autologous whole blood administration upon experimental mouse models of acute Trypanosoma cruzi infection

• Published in: Journal of Venomous Animals and Toxins including Tropical Diseases
• Main Authors: Beatriz Philot Pavão, Kelly Cristina Demarque, Marcos Meuser Batista, Gabriel Melo de Oliveira, Cristiane França da Silva, Francisca Hildemagna Guedes da Silva, Luzia Fátima Gonçalves Caputo, Cynthia Machado Cascabulho, Marcello André Barcinski, Maria de Nazaré Correia Soeiro
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: SciELO 2018
• Subjects: Autologous blood; Alternative therapy; Mouse models; Trypanosoma cruzi; Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine; RC955-962; Toxicology. Poisons; RA1190-1270; Zoology; QL1-991; Arctic
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1186/s40409-018-0157-8; https://doaj.org/article/655e6d8ff3b4408cafe1e242dd0d0b9d

Abstract Background Autologous whole blood (AWB) administration is described as alternative/complementary medical practice widely employed in medical and veterinary therapy against infections, chronic pathologies and neoplasias. Our aim is to investigate in vivo biological effect of AWB using healthy murine models under the course of Trypanosoma cruzi acute infection. Methods The first set of studies consisted of injecting different volumes of AWB and saline (SAL) into the posterior region of quadriceps muscle of healthy male Swiss mice under distinct therapeutic schemes evaluating: animal behavior, body and organ weight, hemogram, plasmatic biochemical markers for tissue damage and inflammatory cytokine levels and profile. To assess the impact on the experimental T. cruzi infection, different schemes (prior and post infection) and periods of AWB administration (from one up to 10 days) were conducted, also employing heterologous whole blood (HWB) and evaluating plasma cytokine profile. Results No major adverse events were observed in healthy AWB-treated mice, except gait impairment in animals that received three doses of 20 μL AWB in the same hind limb. AWB and SAL triggered an immediate polymorphonuclear response followed by mononuclear infiltrate. Although SAL triggered an inflammatory response, the kinetics and intensity of the histological profile and humoral mediator levels were different from AWB, the latter occurring earlier and more intensely with concomitant elevation of plasma IL-6. Inflammatory peak response of SAL, mainly composed of mononuclear cells with IL-10, was increased at 24 h. According to the mouse model of acute T. cruzi infection, only minor decreases (< 30%) in the parasitemia levels were produced by AWB and HWB given before and after infection, without protecting against mortality. Rises in IFN-gamma, TNF-alpha and IL-6 were detected at 9 dpi in all infected animals as compared to uninfected mice but only Bz displayed a statistically significant diminution (p = 0.02) in TNF-alpha ...