Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Artigo Acesso aberto Produção Nacional Revisado por pares

BIBTEX RIS

Low Doses of Simvastatin Therapy Ameliorate Cardiac Inflammatory Remodeling in Trypanosoma cruzi-Infected Dogs

2011; American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene; Volume: 84; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.4269/ajtmh.2011.10-0451

1476-1645

L.R.F. Melo, Ivo Santana Caldas, Maíra Araújo Azevedo, Karolina Ribeiro Gonçalves, Álvaro Fernando da Silva do Nascimento, Vivian Paulino Figueiredo, Lívia de Figueiredo Diniz, Wanderson Geraldo de Lima, Rosália Moraes Torres, Maria Terezinha Bahia, André Talvani,

Viral Infections and Immunology Research

Chagas cardiomyopathy remodeling is based on the presence of Trypanosoma cruzi in heart tissue and on the complex inflammatory response leading to a myocardium fibrosis and alterations in conductive and functional heart parameters. This study aims to evaluate Simvastatin on the inflammatory response and heart functionality using dogs infected with Y strain of T. cruzi. Animals were treated daily with Simvastatin (20 mg) for 6 months and submitted to clinical and immunopathological evaluations. Simvastatin reduced heart expression and serum levels of interferon-γ (IFN-γ) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) but not interleukin-10 (IL-10), possibly favoring blood parasitism but reducing inflammation and fibrosis in the left ventricle and right atrium. Simvastatin also ameliorated ejection fraction, diastolic diameter, and mass index of the left ventricle 6 months after infection. This study suggests that more investigation should be performed on the use of statins as a prophylactic therapy against cardiac remodeling because of their effects on modifying immune response and benefiting functional parameters in dogs with T. cruzi-induced ventricular dysfunctions.