Chagas disease control and role of zinc supplementation in pregnancy

Abstract

During normal pregnancy, some changes in cell numbers, phenotype, and activity take place. The impairment of maternal immune function in the course of pregnancy contributes to a decreased resistance against several pathogens. Since scarce data concerning the effects of maternal zinc supplementation during infection are available, the purpose of our current study was to evaluate immune response alterations and zinc levels in pregnant T. cruzi-infected Wistar rats under zinc therapy. Pregnant Wistar rats were used in all experiments. TCD3 + CD4 + , TCD3 + CD8 + , B cells (CD45RA + ), splenocyte proliferation, and plasma zinc levels were measured at 14 th day after infection (18 th day of pregnancy). High proportions of T-and B-cells were found in infected pregnant and zinc-treated animals as compared to pregnant infected and untreated counterparts. Moreover, zinc plasmatic levels from supplemented animals were similar to the non-infected/non-supplemented group. These findings demonstrate that dietary zinc supplementation throughout pregnancy improves immune response during T. cruzi infection. These results will base further methods to use zinc in pregnant women affected by T. cruzi.