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Programmed cell death in thymus during experimental paracoccidioidomycosis

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Abstract

Many works have shown that immunosuppressive effects induced by systemic mycosis can be related to primary lymphoid organ damage. Previous studies in our laboratory showed that Paracoccidioides brasiliensis was able to invade the thymus, inducing a severe atrophy with significant reduction of cortical area along with a loss of cortico-medullary boundary. The objective of the present study was to investigate whether thymic atrophy is caused by programmed cell death (PCD) and to examine the ultrastructural characteristics of the thymus in experimentally infected BALB/c mice. The results revealed an eightfold increase in the apoptotic index occurring by day 5 post infection, i.e., during early stages of the infection, shown by immunohistochemistry. In addition, typical cell alterations of autophagic PCD were observed by transmission electron microscopy. Taken together, these results reinforce the idea that thymic alterations may be involved in the immunosuppressive phenomenon frequently associated with paracoccidioidomycotic infection.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank Prof. Áureo Tatsumi Yamada for his generous support throughout this study. This work was supported by grants from Fundo de Apoio ao Ensino e à Pesquisa da Unicamp (FAEP/UNICAMP 0682/00) and Fundação de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP 98/09660-1; 00/00996-9).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Microbiologia e Imunologia, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), Cidade Universitária Zeferino Vaz s/n, Caixa Postal 6109, 13083-970, Campinas-SP, Brazil

    Paula C. S. Souto, Vânia N. Brito, Jacy Gameiro & Liana Verinaud

  2. Departamento de Histologia e Embriologia, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas-SP, Brazil

    Maria Alice da Cruz-Höfling

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  1. Paula C. S. Souto
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  2. Vânia N. Brito
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  3. Jacy Gameiro
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  4. Maria Alice da Cruz-Höfling
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  5. Liana Verinaud
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Correspondence to Paula C. S. Souto.

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Souto, P.C.S., Brito, V.N., Gameiro, J. et al. Programmed cell death in thymus during experimental paracoccidioidomycosis. Med Microbiol Immunol 192, 225–229 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00430-003-0180-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00430-003-0180-3

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