Chronic chagas cardiomyopathy is linked to a disrupted activation of the hypothalamous-pituitary-adrenal axis and an increase in 11β-hsd1 expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells

ANTONELLA PACINI; SILVINA R VILLAR ; RODOLFO LEIVA ; ANA ROSA PEREZ; FLORENCIA B GONZALEZ

Mar del Plata

Congreso; Reunión anual de Sociedades de Biociencias SAI, SAIC Y SAFIS 2022; 2022

Chronic Chagas cardiomyopathy (CCC) is a disease caused byTrypanosoma cruzi (Tc). We previously observed a disrupted activationof the hypothalamous-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. The aimof this work was to evaluate possible difference in the immune-endocrinestatus between chronic chagasic patients with CCC (n=22),non-chagasic with cardiomyopathy (NCC, n=5) and healthy and seronegativeindividuals (Co, n=15). Systemic levels of Cortisol (GC)and DHEA-S concentration were determined in serum. The expressionof genes involved in GC response as GC receptors (GRα functionalreceptor and GRβ inhibitor receptor) and 11β-HSD1 (whichcatalyzes the conversion of GC from inactive to active form) wasassessed by qPCR. We also evaluated in peripheral blood mononuclearcells (PBMCs) the expression of genes regulated by GC andinvolved in the inflammatory response: IL-6, IFN-γ, IL-1β, TNF-αand tristetraprolin (TTP) by qPCR. As we previously shown, CCCindividuals showed a disrupted activation of the HPA axis, characterizedby decreased DHEA-S and GC levels together with an increasedGC/DHEA-S ratio (p