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Brief Definitive Reports |

Beatrice and Samuel Seaver Laboratory, Division of Hematology-Oncology, Cornell University Medical College, New York 10021
| Abstract |
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Key Words: visceral leishmaniasis protozoan parasite granuloma macrophage
Leishmania donovani, a protozoan that causes visceral leishmaniasis, selectively parasitizes and initially replicates within resident macrophages in the liver, spleen and bone marrow. The host capable of controlling this disseminated intracellular infection develops an effective T cell– dependent immune response mediated by proinflammatory, largely Th1 cell–associated cytokines including IL-12 and IFN-
In vitro studies suggest that mononuclear phagocytes possess multiple leishmanicidal mechanisms. Cytokine-activated mouse peritoneal macrophages kill ingested L. donovani amastigotes by secreting either reactive oxygen intermediates (ROI; primarily H2O2 [6, 7]) or reactive nitrogen intermediates (RNI; derived from nitric oxide [8]). Inhibit ing either pathway prevents mouse macrophage killing of L. donovani in vitro (6–8); thus, these mechanisms may also act in concert (9, 10). In cytokine-activated human monocyte-derived macrophages, H2O2 also readily induces leishmanicidal effects (11); however, a similar role for RNI has been difficult to detect in cells from normal donors (12). In vitro–activated human macrophages can also limit L. donovani replication by degrading extracellular tryptophan (13).
Studies carried out to define the macrophage mechanisms of intracellular Leishmania killing in vivo have been more limited. Thorough observations in a separate mouse model of L. major cutaneous infection largely (14–17) but not entirely (18, 19) support a critical role for inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS)-generated RNI. RNI are not only leishmanicidal (8, 14–17) but also regulate immunologic pathways, including endogenous secretion of IL-12 and IFN-
To directly compare RNI and ROI as macrophage- derived antimicrobial mediators in vivo, we used L. donovani to challenge gene-disrupted iNOS knockout (KO) (23) and respiratory burst–deficient gp91phox–/– (X-linked chronic granulomatous disease [X-CGD]) mice (24).
Visceral Infection and Treatment.
(1–3; for review see reference 4). The net effect of this complex response, which involves granuloma formation (4, 5), is sufficient activation of both tissue macrophages and influxing blood monocytes to kill most intracellular L. donovani and induce quiescence in residual infection (4).
(15, 17). In L. donovani–infected BALB/c mice, iNOS mRNA is induced in parasitized tissues (2, 20) and presumed inhibition of iNOS by aminoguanidine (AG) treatment impairs host defense (2). However, iNOS mRNA induction (20) and generation of iNOS-derived products in serum and infected organs (21) do not necessarily correlate with control over L. donovani (20, 21). In the one published study of parasitized tissue in human visceral leishmaniasis, splenic mononuclear phagocytes from each of 22 untreated Indian patients showed iNOS immunoreactivity (22) (36 ± 3% of cells were iNOS positive; Murray, H., A. Ding, S. Sundar, and C. Nathan, unpublished data).
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Materials and Methods
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Abstract
Materials and Methods
Results and Discussion
References
Animals.
Mice with a targeted disruption of the gp91phox subunit of the NADPH-oxidase complex (phox), derived from a C57BL/6 x 129/Sv background and backcrossed six times with C57BL/6 mice (24), were provided as breeders by Dr. M. Dinauer (Indiana University Medical Center, Indianapolis, IN). C57BL/6 mice (Charles Rivers Labs.) were used as controls. iNOS–/– KO mice (C57BL/6 x 129/Sv) were maintained as originally described (23); wild-type+/+ littermates served as controls. Mice were 8–15 wk old when infected; both males and females were used randomly except for control C57BL/6 mice (all female).
Groups of four to five mice were injected via the tail vein with 1.5 x 107 hamster spleen– derived L. donovani amastigotes (1 Sudan strain, provided by Dr. D. Sacks, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD) (2, 3). Visceral infection was followed microscopically using Giemsa-stained liver imprints by counting the number of amastigotes per 500 cell nuclei x liver weight (g) (Leishman-Donovan units, or LDU) (2, 3). Granuloma formation was scored using formalin-fixed tissue sections stained with hematoxylin and eosin (1–3). In some experiments, starting 1 d after infection AG (Sigma Chemical Co.) was added at 1% (wt/vol) to acidified drinking water changed twice weekly; controls received acidified water alone (2). Differences between mean values were analyzed by a two-tailed Student's t test.
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Results and Discussion
Top
Abstract
Materials and Methods
Results and Discussion
References
Initial Kinetics of Parasite Replication.
L. donovani replicated in the livers of both strains of control mice during the first 2 wk after challenge (Fig. 1); thereafter, parasite burdens declined consistent with killing and a self-healing phenotype (1). At wk 2, liver burdens in both X-CGD and iNOS KO mice were significantly higher (by 1.6- and 2.3-fold, respectively) than in control animals. Since macrophages from X-CGD mice produce RNI normally (24) and macrophages from iNOS KO mice show intact respiratory burst activity (23), the results at wk 2 suggested that (a) neither mechanism by itself was sufficient to help limit early L. donovani replication and (b) phox and iNOS may act in concert to achieve optimal initial activity.
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(17), key antileishmanial cytokines involved in both mononuclear cell influx and macrophage activation (2–4).
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Results at wk 8 indicated that neither phox nor iNOS alone was ultimately required for cell recruitment and assembly, since granulomas developed in both types of deficient mice (Table II). In X-CGD animals, capable of killing L. donovani, the tissue reaction was widespread, comprised of both mature granulomas and inflammatory foci devoid of parasites (Fig. 2 F), and as in a prior study (29) was exaggerated at some perivascular areas (data not shown). However, despite the presence of a similarly well-developed inflammatory reaction, mature-appearing granulomas in iNOS-deficient mice contained overwhelming numbers of replicating amastigotes defining a novel structure, the "ineffective granuloma" (Figs. 3 H and 4).
Together, these results demonstrate clear-cut, probable interdigitating roles for both the respiratory burst and endogenous iNOS–derived RNI as macrophage antimicrobial mechanisms in the initial host defense response to L. donovani. However, the activity of the respiratory burst in inflammatory cell recruitment and in limiting intracellular replication is early and transient, since granulomas formed and infection resolved in X-CGD mice. Similar findings of enhanced susceptibility followed by control in X-CGD mice have been reported in a short-term model of Listeria monocytogenes infection (30).
It is possible that mechanisms related to neither phox nor iNOS, such as other sources of ROI and RNI, also emerge to complete the induction of the tissue cellular immune response to L. donovani and contribute additional antileishmanial effects. However, our results clearly illustrate an obligatory role for iNOS in intracellular killing in vivo and resolution of visceral infection. The presence in iNOS-deficient livers of numerous granulomas, well-established but heavily-laden with intracellular parasites (Fig. 4), graphically illustrates the tissue consequences of the absence of this specific macrophage antimicrobial mechanism.
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| Acknowledgments |
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This work was supported by National Institutes of Health grants AI16963 (to H.W. Murray) and HL51967 (to C.F. Nathan).
Submitted: 20 October 1998
Revised: 21 December 1998
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