Measurement of IL-10 serum levels in BALB/c mice treated with beta-1,3 polyglucose or sulfadiazine and acutely infected by Toxoplasma gondii

Abstract

Acute infection by Toxoplasma gondii leads to suppression of cell-mediated immunity, facilitating chronic infection. One of the causes of immunosuppression is Interleukin-10 (IL-10) production. Glucan is used to stimulate phagocytosis. Our objective was to study IL-10 induction in male BALB/c mice with acute T. gondii BTU-2 strain infection, glucan immunostimulation, and sulfadiazine treatment. Animals were distributed into 7 groups: G1: infected with T. gondii; G2: infected with T. gondii and treated with sulfadiazine; G3: infected with T. gondii and immunostimulated with glucan; G4: infected with T. gondii, immunostimulated with glucan, and treated with sulfadiazine; G5: imunostimulated with glucan; G6: treated with saline; and G7: treated with sulfadiazine. IL-10 levels were determined by ELISA; the highest levels were found in G2, G3 and G4, and the lowest in G1 (p<0.001). Groups G1 to G5 and G7 had substantially higher levels than G6 (p<0.001). In this study, the highest IL-10 levels were found in groups treated with glucan

β-Glucan and parasites

“…Toxoplasma gondii is a common intracellular parasite, particularly dangerous for immunocompromised individuals, as the infection results in suppression of cell-mediated branch of immune reactions. The use of glucan stimulated the production of interleukin-10 in infected animals more than the standard drug, sulfadiazine (Picka et al, 2005), but the relevance to the potential treatment is unclear, as the study did not measure the possible changes in parasitic load.…”

β-Sitosterol Contributes in the Resistance to Invasion and Survival of Brucella abortus 544 within RAW264.7 Cells, and Cytokine Production with Reduced Susceptibility to Infection in BALB/c Mice

“…IL-10 regulates the balance between the clearance of pathogen and the immune responses associated with the disease, and in a study done by Corsetti et al [ 35 ], lack of endogenous IL-10 leads to B. abortus clearance in mice with enhanced production of proinflammatory cytokines. Furthermore, production of IL-10 is one of the causes of immunosuppression [ 36 ]. Oral treatment of BS in mice could reduce susceptibility to B. abortus infection possibly via enhanced release of proinflammatory cytokines.…”