[Biochemistry of schistosomiasis mansoni: involvement of siderosomes in hepatic inflammatory processes]

The inflammatory processes that develop during the advanced stages of hepatic schistosomiasis mansoni have been related in this study to: (a) accumulation of siderosomes; (b) capacity of the ferrous/ferric ions to unleash the formation of free radicals; (c) peroxidation of membrane lipids and; (d) reduction of stability of the membranes of several components of the hepatic lysosomal compartment. The lysosomes isolated from the livers of infected mice by 100 cercariae, with 80 and 100 days of infection, were respectively 2.5 and almost 4 times weaker than the control ones isolated from livers of non-infected mice. The presence of a great quantity of siderosomes has been demonstrated by transmission electronic microscopy and X-ray spectrometry microanalysis.