Anti-inflammatory Role of Galectin-8 During Trypanosoma cruzi Chronic Infection

BERTELLI, ADRIANO; SANMARCO, LILIANA M.; PASCUALE, CARLA A.; POSTAN, MIRIAM; AOKI, MARIA P.; LEGUIZAMÓN, MARÍA S.

Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology

Frontiers Media S.A.

Año: 2020 vol. 10

alectins are animal lectins with high affinity for β-galactosides that drive the immune response through several mechanisms. In particular, the role of galectin-8 (Gal-8) in inflammation remains controversial. To analyze its role in a chronic inflammatory environment, we studied a murine model of Trypanosoma cruzi infection. The parasite induces alterations that lead to the development of chronic cardiomyopathy and/or megaviscera in 30% of infected patients. The strong cardiac inflammation along with fibrosis leads to cardiomyopathy, the most relevant consequence of Chagas disease. By analyzing infected wild-type (iWT) and Gal-8-deficient (iGal-8KO) C57BL/6J mice at the chronic phase (4?5 months post-infection), we observed that the lack of Gal-8 favored a generalized increase in heart, skeletal muscle, and liver inflammation associated with extensive fibrosis, unrelated to tissue parasite loads. Remarkably, increased frequencies of neutrophils and macrophages were observed withi