HIF‐1α and CD73 expression in cardiac leukocytes correlates with the severity of myocarditis in end‐stage Chagas disease patients

EBERHARDT, NATALIA; SANMARCO, LILIANA MARIA; BERGERO, GASTÓN; FAVALORO, ROBERTO RENÉ; VIGLIANO, CARLOS; AOKI, MARIA PILAR

JOURNAL OF LEUKOCYTE BIOLOGY

FEDERATION AMER SOC EXP BIOL

Año: 2020

0741-5400

hronic Chagas cardiomyopathy is the main infectious myocarditis worldwide. Almost 30% of Trypanosoma cruzi infected individuals develop slow and progressive myocarditis that leads to ventricular dilation and heart failure. Heart transplantation is an established, valuable therapeutic option for end-stage Chagas disease patients. Although the pathophysiology of Chagas disease has been addressed for decades by numerous groups, the cardiac immunologic mechanisms involved in the progression of clinical manifestation are still unknown. Growing evidence demonstrates that hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-1α plays indispensable roles in driving immune response by triggering the expression of CD73 purinergic ecto-enzyme. Purinergic system controls the duration and magnitude of purine signals directed to modulate immune cells through the conversion of extracellular ATP (microbicide/proinflammatory) to the immunoregulatory metabolite adenosine. In the present work, we described that infiltrat