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EFFECT OF FENOFIBRATE ON THE PROMOTIONOF A REGULATORY RESPONSE IN AN ACUTE MODELOF Trypanosoma cruzi INFECTIONMaria Jimena Rada, Federico Nicolás Penas, Agata Carolina Cevey, Gerardo Ariel Mirkin, Nora Beatriz GorenInstituto de Investigaciones en Microbiología Y ParasitologíaMédica-Uba-ConicetDevelopment of T. cruzi infection is conditioned by events that occur early in secondary lymphoid organs, in which naïve cells areactivated. These events imply the development of a proinflammatoryresponse, the intensity of which may be decisive for the control ofinfection or the evolution to severe forms of the disease. Given thatPPARα ligands modulate inflammation, we decided to evaluate theeffect of Fenofibrate, a synthetic PPARα ligand, on the modulationof the immune response in an experimental murine model of acuteT. cruzi infection.To this aim, 8-week old BALB/c mice were infected by intraperitoneal route with 1.105 bloodstream trypomastigotes of the non-lethalCA-I strain (clone K98, DTU TcI). Infected mice were treated with100 mg/Kg/day Fenofibrate for 3 weeks by oral gavage, since day1 post-infection. Then, mice were euthanized and the expression ofseveral genes involved in the modulation of the immune response toT. cruzi was analyzed in spleen cells by qRT-PCR.Three weeks after infection, we observed a trend towards higherlevels of expression of FoxP3 mRNA, a marker of T regulatory(Treg) cells in T. cruzi-infected mice treated with Fenofibrate in comparison with untreated infected mice. A similar trend was observedwith regards to IL-10 and its receptor (IL-10R). Furthermore, a trendto increased expression of IL-2 and TGF-β (cytokines involved inTreg cell differentiation) was also observed.These results suggest that treatment with Fenofibrate early duringinfection would induce a favorable microenvironment for the development of a regulatory response, in the context of T. cruzi infection,promoted by the expression of factors inducing Treg cell differentiation.Keywords: T.cruzi, FOXP3, IL-10, Fenofibrate, qRT-PCR.