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N-acetyl-l-cysteine reduces the parasitism of BALB/c mice infected with Leishmania amazonensis

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Abstract

Leishmania amazonensis infection leads to progressive diseases in a majority of inbred strains of mice. Glutathione (GSH) participates in a large number of cellular phenomena and seems to be essential for several immune functions, including host defense during leishmaniasis. In this study, we evaluated the effects of N-acetyl-l-cysteine (NAC), as GSH supplement, on the course of L. amazonensis infection in susceptible BALB/c mice. The treatment with NAC (200 mg/kg daily) was effective in raising GSH levels in both lymph node and spleen cells. Although this treatment did not change the footpad swelling development in L. amazonensis-infected mice, it caused a significant decrease in the number of parasites recovered from the footpad lesion and draining popliteal lymph node. Our data suggest that intracellular Leishmania killing in vivo was improved by the augment of GSH levels through NAC administration.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by CNPq, FAPESP and UNESC. We are grateful to Jeverson Moreira for carefully review of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Farmácia, CENTRO POLITÉCNIO/UNICENTRO, Av. Simeão Camargo Varela de Sá, 03, Guarapuava, PR, CEP: 85040-080, Brasil

    Marta Chagas Monteiro

  2. Laboratório de Imunoparasitologia, UNISUL, Tubarão, SC, Brasil

    Fúlvia Carina Souza Marques, Renê Darela Blazius & Onilda Santos da Silva

  3. Departamento de Farmacologia, FMRP/USP, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brasil

    Fernando de Queiroz Cunha

  4. Laboratório de Imunologia e Mutagênese, Unidade Acadêmica de Ciências da Saúde, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências da Saúde, UNESC, Criciúma, SC, Brasil

    Diana Bittencourt Bento & Pedro Roosevelt Torres Romão

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  1. Marta Chagas Monteiro
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  2. Fúlvia Carina Souza Marques
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  3. Renê Darela Blazius
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  4. Onilda Santos da Silva
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  5. Fernando de Queiroz Cunha
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  6. Diana Bittencourt Bento
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  7. Pedro Roosevelt Torres Romão
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Correspondence to Marta Chagas Monteiro.

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Monteiro, M.C., Marques, F.C.S., Blazius, R.D. et al. N-acetyl-l-cysteine reduces the parasitism of BALB/c mice infected with Leishmania amazonensis . Parasitol Res 102, 801–803 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-007-0827-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-007-0827-x

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