β-CATENIN EXPRESSION IS UP-REGULATED IN BRACHIOCEPHALIC ARTERY AND THORACIC AORTA BEFORE TO THE CHRONIC CARDIAC CHAGAS DISEASE DEVELOPMENT

VOLPINI, XIMENA; BAIGORRÍ, R.E.; BRUGO MARIA BELEN; LAUTARO NATALI; CERBAN F; MOTRAN, CLAUDIA CRISTINA; MUSRI MELINA

Workshop; WORKSHOP: The neurohumoral control of body fluid and cardiovascular homeostasis in males and females.; 2019

Wnt signaling participates in the development of the cardiovascular system by regulating processes such as cell fate, proliferation and migration. This pathway decreases in healthy adult heart and vessels but become reactivated during the development of several cardiovascular pathologies. It is well known that during Trypanosoma cruzi infection, a number of cardiovascular alterations take place, eventually triggering cardiomyopathy associated with chronic cardiac Chagas disease (CCC). However, little is known about the contribution of the systemic circulation to this condition. Previously, we demonstrated that Wnt inhibition during the acute phase of infection reduces CCC severity in BALB/c mice. In this work, we aimed to determine the expression of the canonical Wnt/β-catenin pathway in the systemic vasculature before the development of CCC. To this end, BALB/c mice were infected with 1000 tripomastigotes and β-catenin mRNA and T. cruzi satellite DNA were determined by q-RT-PCR in heart, brachiocephalic artery (BCA), thoracic (TA) and abdominal (AA) aorta at different days post-infection (dpi). A significant increase of β-catenin expression was observed in BCA (p=0.0255) and TA (p=0.0035) at 16 dpi, while no changes were observed in neither AA nor heart at any of the evaluated time points. Interestingly, β-catenin increment was consistent with parasite load in the assessed tissues and blood. In addition, parasitemia, parasite load and β-catenin in both BCA and TA decreased after 30 dpi together with the establishment of the chronic phase of the infection. We conclude that Wnt/β-catenin could be involved in early vascular alterations in response to T. cruzi infection.