Diet Modulates Adipose Tissue Oxidative Stress in a Murine Acute Chagas Model - Abstract
Chagas disease, also known as American trypanosomiasis, is a tropical parasitic
disease caused by the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi. T. cruzi targets adipose tissue,
which serves as a reservoir of this parasite. T. cruzi infection of adipose tissue is
characterized by increased lipolysis, oxidative stress, and parasitemia. High fat diet
(HFD) decreases lipolysis and increases the survival rate in the mice infected with T.
cruzi during acute infection. However, the effect of HFD on oxidative stress in adipose
tissue has not been examined in detail. In the present study we evaluated the effect
of HFD on oxidative stress markers in both white and brown adipose tissues (WAT
and BAT) during acute infection. We used qPCR to examine the mRNA expression
levels of genes involved in several antioxidant defence systems, such as those acting in
ROS metabolism, peroxidases, and relevant oxygen transporter genes. The result of
our study showed that HFD regulates the expression levels of oxidative stress genes
in adipose tissues and that these effects are often different in WAT and BAT. For
instance, while HFD down-regulated the levels of most antioxidant genes in both WAT
and BAT, it differentially affected the expression pattern of genes involved in ROS
metabolism (e.g. peroxidases) in WAT and BAT tissues of infected mice. Together
with our previous studies, these findings show that infection and diet both regulate
antioxidant enzymes and other oxidative stress defenses in mouse adipose tissues
during acute T. cruzi infection.