Benznidazole treatment decreases IL-6 levels in Trypanosoma cruzi-infected human adipocytes differentiated from adipose tissue-derived stem cells.

Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.

• Level A · Stronger Clinical Evidence
• Level B · Emerging clinical evidence with positive signals
• Level C · Early human research exploring benefits
• Level D · Scientific groundwork from lab and animal studies
• Emerging · Emerging topic under active research

Abstract (original English)

Background Trypanosoma cruzi, which causes Chagas disease (CD), is a versatile haemoparasite that uses several strategies to evade the host's immune response, including adipose tissue (AT), used as a reservoir of infection. As it is an effective barrier to parasite evasion, the effectiveness of the drug recommended for treating CD, Benznidazole (BZ), may be questionable. Objective To this end, we evaluated the parasite load and immunomodulation caused by BZ treatment in the culture of adipocytes differentiated from human adipose tissue-derived stem cells (ADSC) infected with T. cruzi. Methods The ADSC were subjected to adipogenic differentiation. We then carried out four cultures in which we infected the differentiated AT with trypomastigote forms of the Y strain of T. cruzi and treated them with BZ. After the incubation, the infected AT was subjected to quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) to quantify the parasite load and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) to verify the infection. The supernatant was collected to measure cytokines, chemokines, and adipokines. Findings We found elevated secretion of IL-6, CXCL-10/IP-10, CCL2/MCP-1, CCL5/RANTES, and leptin in infected fat cells. However, treatment with BZ promoted a decrease in IL-6. Main conclusion Therefore, we believe that BZ has a beneficial role as it reduces inflammation in infected fat cells.

Evidence level

Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.

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