1. L-arginine supplementation increases cardiac collagenogenesis in mice chronically infected with Berenice-78 Trypanosoma cruzi strain.
- Author
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Bianchini Narde M, Belli Cassa Domingues EL, Ribeiro Gonçalves K, Lomar Viana M, Santos Zanini M, Geraldo de Lima W, Bahia MT, and Matos Dos Santos F
- Subjects
- Animal Feed analysis, Animals, Arginine administration & dosage, Arginine pharmacology, Chagas Cardiomyopathy drug therapy, Chagas Cardiomyopathy parasitology, Diet, Dietary Supplements analysis, Heart drug effects, Mice, Trypanocidal Agents administration & dosage, Trypanocidal Agents metabolism, Arginine metabolism, Chagas Cardiomyopathy pathology, Collagen physiology, Heart parasitology, Trypanocidal Agents pharmacology, Trypanosoma cruzi drug effects
- Abstract
Chagas disease, caused by Trypanosoma cruzi, is a major neglected tropical disease that occurs mainly as chronic infection and systemic infection. Currently, there is no suitable and effective drug to treat this parasitic disease. Administration of nutrients with immunomodulatory properties, such as arginine and nitric oxide radicals, may be helpful as antiparasitic therapy. In this study, we evaluated the effects of arginine supplementation during the acute phase of infection under the development of chronic Chagas' heart disease in Swiss mice inoculated with the Berenice-78 strain of T. cruzi. The effectiveness of arginine was determined by daily detection of the parasite in the blood and long-term serum levels of nitric oxide and tumor necrosis factor-alpha, in addition to evaluation of heart tissue damage. Arginine could flatten parasitemia and prevent elevation of tumor necrosis factor-alpha in T. cruzi-infected mice. Regarding chronic inflammatory myocardial derangements, similar findings were verified among T. cruzi-infected groups. Arginine promoted collagenogenesis in the heart muscle tissue of T. cruzi-infected arginine-supplemented group. These data show the paradoxical benefits of arginine in improving the outcome of Chagas chronic cardiomyopathy., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)
- Published
- 2021
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