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Evaluation of the immunosuppressive effect of cyclophosphamide and dexamethasone in mice with visceral toxocariasis

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Abstract

Visceral toxocariasis is a serious public health problem with a cosmopolitan distribution. Children are susceptible due to their immature immune system and high risks of infection. Nevertheless, the few completed studies about immunosuppression have had controversial results. To evaluate the effect of two immunosuppressive drugs on the larval burden of Toxocara canis, four groups of ten Swiss strain mice each were inoculated on day 0 with 1,200 embryonated T. canis eggs. Fifteen days before the experimental infection, group 1 (control) was treated via intraperitoneal injection (IP) with sterile distilled water and groups 2 and 3 were treated with dexamethasone (DEX) at 1 and 5 mg/kg/day, respectively. Additionally, group 4 was treated IP with cyclophosphamide (CY) at 50 mg/kg at two times per week for 2 weeks. Sixty days following infection, the mice were euthanised to recover the larvae by means of the tissue digestion technique. The levels of antibodies detected by indirect ELISA were not associated with the larval burden. Administration of CY (50 mg/kg) and DEX (5 mg/kg) resulted in an increase of the larval burden of 162.1% and 50.8%, respectively, in relation to the control group. These two treatments, especially CY (50 mg/kg), promoted immunosuppression and the establishment of a significant larval burden, supporting its further utilisation in studies related to immunosuppression in visceral toxocariasis.

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Acknowledgements

Thanks to the laboratory technician Lourdes Helena Martins for collaboration in this study, to the Post-Graduate Program in Public Health for support and the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) for the scholarship grant for studies. The experiments were carried out following the Federal Government legislation on animal care.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Post-Graduate Program in Health Sciences – Parasitology Laboratory, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande (FURG); Academic Area of the University Hospital – FURG, Rua General Osório, S/N, CEP: 96.200-190, Centro, Rio Grande, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

    Luciana Farias da Costa de Avila & Gisele Ferreira Dutra

  2. Parasitology Laboratory, FURG, Rio Grande, Brazil

    Juliana Santos Vieira da Fonseca

  3. Center of Technology Development – Biotechnology, Universidade Federal de Pelotas (UFPEL), Pelotas, Brazil

    Paula de Lima Telmo

  4. Post-Graduate Program in Health Sciences, FURG, Rio Grande, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

    Ana Maria Wolkmer Azambuja Silva & Pedro Eduardo Almeida da Silva

  5. Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, UFPEL, Pelotas, Brazil

    Maria Elisabeth Aires Berne

  6. Center of Technology Development – Biotechnology, UFPEL, Pelotas, Brazil

    Fabricio Rochedo Conceição

  7. Post-Graduate Program in Health Sciences; Parasitology Laboratory (FURG), Rio Grande, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

    Carlos James Scaini

Authors
  1. Luciana Farias da Costa de Avila
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  2. Juliana Santos Vieira da Fonseca
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  3. Gisele Ferreira Dutra
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  4. Paula de Lima Telmo
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  5. Ana Maria Wolkmer Azambuja Silva
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  6. Maria Elisabeth Aires Berne
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  7. Pedro Eduardo Almeida da Silva
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  8. Fabricio Rochedo Conceição
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  9. Carlos James Scaini
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Luciana Farias da Costa de Avila.

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da Costa de Avila, L.F., da Fonseca, J.S.V., Dutra, G.F. et al. Evaluation of the immunosuppressive effect of cyclophosphamide and dexamethasone in mice with visceral toxocariasis. Parasitol Res 110, 443–447 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-011-2510-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-011-2510-5

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