Type I interferons increase host susceptibility to Trypanosoma cruzi infection.

ABSTRACT: Trypanosoma cruzi, the protozoan parasite that causes human Chagas' disease, induces a type I interferon (IFN) (IFN-α/β) response during acute experimental infection in mice and in isolated primary cell types. To examine the potential impact of the type I IFN response in shaping outcomes in experimental T. cruzi infection, groups of wild-type (WT) and type I IFN receptor-deficient (IFNAR(-/-)) 129sv/ev mice were infected with two different T. cruzi strains under lethal and sublethal conditions and several parameters were measured during the acute stage of infection. The results demonstrate that type I IFNs are not required for early host protection against T. cruzi. In contrast, under conditions of lethal T. cruzi challenge, WT mice succumbed to infection whereas IFNAR(-/-) mice were ultim

SUBMITTER: Chessler AD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3088151 | biostudies-literature | 2011 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature