LUIZ FELIPE DOMINGUES PASSERO
Projetos de Pesquisa
Unidades Organizacionais
LIM/50 - Laboratório de Patologia das Moléstias Infecciosas, Hospital das Clínicas, Faculdade de Medicina
5 resultados
Resultados de Busca
Agora exibindo 1 - 5 de 5
- Salivary gland homogenates from wild-caught sand flies Lutzomyia flaviscutellata and Lutzomyia (Psychodopygus) complexus showed inhibitory effects on Leishmania (Leishmania) amazonensis and Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis infection in BALB/c mice(2014) FRANCESQUINI, Fernanda C.; SILVEIRA, Fernando T.; PASSERO, Luiz Felipe D.; TOMOKANE, Thaise Y.; CARVALHO, Ana Kely; CORBETT, Carlos Eduardo P.; LAURENTI, Marcia D.During the natural transmission of Leishmania parasites, the infected sand fly female regurgitates promastigotes into the host's skin together with its saliva. It has been reported that vector saliva contains immunomodulatory molecules that facilitate the establishment of infection. Thus, the main objective of this study was to evaluate the specificity of Lutzomyia (Lu.) flaviscutellata and Lu.(Psychodopygus) complexus salivas on the infectivity of Leishmania (L.) (Leishmania) amazonensis and L.(Viannia) braziliensis, respectively. BALB/c mice were inoculated into the skin of hind footpad with L.(L.) amazonensis and L.(V.) braziliensis promastigotes in the absence or presence of Lu.flaviscutellata and Lu.(P.) complexus salivary gland homogenates (SGHs). The evolution of the infection was evaluated by lesion size, histopathological analysis and determination of the parasite load in the skin biopsies collected from the site of infection at 4 and 8weeks PI. The lesion size and the parasite load of both groups of mice infected in the presence of SGHs were smaller than the control groups. The histopathological features showed that the inflammatory reaction was less prominent in the groups of mice infected in the presence of both SGHs when compared to the control group. The results showed that the presence of SGHs of Lu.flaviscutellata and Lu.(P.) complexus led to induction of processes that were disadvantageous to parasite establishment during infection by L.(L.) amazonensis and L.(V.) braziliensis. An inhibitory effect on Leishmania infection could be observed in both groups inoculated with SGHs, especially when the SGH from Lu.(P.) complexus was used.
- Analysis of the protective potential of antigens released by Leishmania (Viannia) shawi promastigotes(2012) PASSERO, Luiz Felipe Domingues; MARQUES, Claudia; VALE-GATO, Ines; CORBETT, Carlos Eduardo Pereira; LAURENTI, Marcia Dalastra; SANTOS-GOMES, GabrielaLeishmania (Viannia) shawi causes cutaneous lesions in humans. Parasite antigens conferring significant protection against American tegumentar leishmaniosis (ATL) might be important for the development of effective vaccine. Therefore, this work evaluates the protective effect of antigenic fractions released by L. shawi. Antigens released by promastigotes to culture medium were concentrated and isolated by SDS-PAGE. The three main fractions LsPass1 (>75 kDa), LsPass2 (75-50 kDa) and LsPass3 (<50 kDa) were electro-eluted according with their molecular mass. Immunized BALB/c mice were challenged with L. shawi promastigotes and the course of infection monitored during 5 weeks. LsPass1-challenged mice showed no protection, however, a strong degree of protection associated to smaller lesions and high expression of IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha by CD4(+) T, CD8(+) T and double negative CD4CD8 cells was achieved in LsPass3-challenged mice. Furthermore, LsPass2-challenged mice showed an intermediated degree of protection associated to high levels of IFN-gamma, IL-4 and IL-10 mRNA. In spite of increased expression of IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha, high amounts of IL-4 and IL-10 mRNA were also detected in LsPass3-challenged mice indicating a possible contribution of these cytokines for the persistence of a residual number of parasites that may be important in inducing long-lasting immunity. Therefore, LsPass3 seems to be an interesting alternative that should be considered in the development of an effective vaccine against ATL.
- In Vivo Antileishmanial Activity of Plant-Based Secondary Metabolites(2013) PASSERO, Luiz Felipe Domingues; LAURENTI, Marcia D.; SANTOS-GOMES, Gabriela; CAMPOS, Bruno Luiz Soares; SARTORELLI, Patricia; LAGO, Joao Henrique G.
- Proteins of Leishmania (Viannia) shawi confer protection associated with Th1 immune response and memory generation(2012) PASSERO, Luiz Felipe D.; CARVALHO, Ana Kely; BORDON, Maria L. A. C.; BONFIM-MELO, Alexis; CARVALHO, Karina; KALLAS, Esper G.; SANTOS, Bianca B. A.; TOYAMA, Marcos H.; PAES-LEME, Adriana; CORBETT, Carlos E. P.; LAURENTI, Marcia D.Background: Leishmania (Viannia) shawi parasite was first characterized in 1989. Recently the protective effects of soluble leishmanial antigen (SLA) from L. (V.) shawi promastigotes were demonstrated using BALB/c mice, the susceptibility model for this parasite. In order to identify protective fractions, SLA was fractionated by reverse phase HPLC and five antigenic fractions were obtained. Methods: F1 fraction was purified from L. (V.) shawi parasite extract by reverse phase HPLC. BALB/c mice were immunized once a week for two consecutive weeks by subcutaneous routes in the rump, using 25 mu g of F1. After 1 and 16 weeks of last immunization, groups were challenged in the footpad with L. (V.) shawi promastigotes. After 2 months, those same mice were sacrificed and parasite burden, cellular and humoral immune responses were evaluated. Results: The F1 fraction induced a high degree of protection associated with an increase in IFN-gamma, a decrease in IL-4, increased cell proliferation and activation of CD8(+)T lymphocytes. Long-term protection was acquired in F1-immunized mice, associated with increased CD4(+) central memory T lymphocytes and activation of both CD4+ and CD8(+) T cells. In addition, F1-immunized groups showed an increase in IgG2a levels. Conclusions: The inductor capability of antigens to generate memory lymphocytes that can proliferate and secrete beneficial cytokines upon infection could be an important factor in the development of vaccine candidates against American Tegumentary Leishmaniasis.
- Anti-leishmanial effects of purified compounds from aerial parts of Baccharis uncinella C. DC. (Asteraceae)(2011) PASSERO, Luiz Felipe D.; BONFIM-MELO, Alexis; CORBETT, Carlos Eduardo P.; LAURENTI, Marcia D.; TOYAMA, Marcos H.; TOYAMA, Daniela O. de; ROMOFF, Paulete; FAVERO, Oriana A.; GRECCO, Simone S. dos; ZALEWSKY, Cynthia A.; LAGO, Joo Henrique G.Species of Baccharis exhibit antibiotic, antiseptic, wound-healing, and anti-protozoal properties, and have been used in the traditional medicine of South America for the treatment of several diseases. In the present work, the fractionation of EtOH extract from aerial parts of Baccharis uncinella indicated that the isolated compounds caffeic acid and pectolinaringenin showed inhibitory activity against Leishmania (L.) amazonensis and Leishmania (V.) braziliensis promastigotes, respectively. Moreover, amastigote forms of both species were highly sensible to the fraction composed by oleanolic + ursolic acids and pectolinaringenin. Caffeic acid also inhibited amastigote forms of L. (L.) amazonensis, but this effect was weak in L. (V.) braziliensis amastigotes. The treatment of infected macrophages with these compounds did not alter the levels of nitrates, indicating a direct effect of the compounds on amastigote stages. The results presented herein suggest that the active components from B. uncinella can be important to the design of new drugs against American tegumentar leishmaniases.