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Influence of a hyperglycaemic diet on Trypanosoma cruzi infection in mice model
Aline Coelho das Mercês1, Flávia de Souza Marques1, Bruno Teixeira Martins1
1Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto, Instituto de Ciências Exatas e Biológicas, Núcleo de Pesquisas em Ciências Biológicas, Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Laboratório de Morfopatologia, Ouro Preto, MG, Brasil.
Background:
Parasitic diseases may increase the risk of metabolic abnormalities through persistent inflammation. However, the effects of a hyperglycaemic diet during Trypanosoma cruzi infection remain poorly understood.
Objectives:
This study aimed to investigate the metabolic, parasitological, immunological, and histological effects of a hyperglycaemic diet during acute T. cruzi infection in mice.
Methods:
C57BL/6 mice were divided into four groups: non-infected with standard diet (NISD), infected with a standard diet (ISD), non-infected with hyperglycaemic diet (NIHD), and infected with hyperglycaemic diet (IHD). Animals were fed their respective diets for eight weeks prior to infection and monitored up to 30 days post-infection (DPI) for blood glucose, body mass, biochemical markers, parasitaemia, tissue alterations, and immune cell profiles.
Findings:
At the time of infection, hyperglycaemic diet groups showed higher blood glucose and body mass. By 30 DPI, these animals exhibited lower glucose, increased parasitaemia, adipose tissue hypertrophy, and reduced cholesterol levels compared with controls. Infected groups showed an increased CD4+ IFN-γ+ T cells at 10 DPI, whereas macrophage expansion was observed only in ISD mice. Cardiac parasitism was higher at 30 DPI than at 10 DPI.
Main Conclusions:
These results show that T. cruzi infection affects metabolic parameters and that a hyperglycaemic diet worsens parasitological outcomes during the acute phase of infection and appears to downregulate the immune response.
