Role of Galectin-3 in acute leptospirosis

MIRTA SCHATTNER; EMILIA SCHARRIG; LUCRECIA ALBERDI; RICARDO GOMEZ

Conferencia; Spirochetes, Biology of; 2014

Galectin-3 is a β-galactoside-binding animal lectin that have been linked to several important roles during infections, including circulating damage-associated molecular pattern, interacting with bacteria and modulating its phagocytosis as well as the adaptive immune response to microbes by negative regulation of dendritic cell, B cell differentiation, and T cell-mediated immunity. The in vivo role of galectin 3, in the pathogenesis of leptospirosis has not been previously studied. Therefore, the main objective of this work was to characterize the role of galectin 3 during acute murine leptospirosis. C57BL/6J (WT) or galectin-3-deficient mice (Lgals3(-/-) were infected with 107Leptospira interrogans serovar Copenhageni (LIC), strain L1-130. At 14 days post-infection (d.p.i.), all animals were euthanized and their blood, kidneys and spleens were harvested and analyzed biochemically and histologically. Uninfected mice were used as negative controls. Galectin-3 knockout (G3KO) animals showed higher bacterial burden in kidneys than WT (P < 0.05) and mild increased histopathology. The specific IgG levels decreased (P < 0.05), while the IgM levels remained unaffected. The mRNA cytokine expression levels of splenocytes showed that G3KO animals presented lower levels of IL-4 and IL-12, higher levels of IL-10, IL-17A and IFN-a, and similar levels of IL-13 than WT animals (P < 0.05). The results obtained indicate that galectin-3 plays a role in the pathogenesis of acute murine leptospirosis participating in the control of leptospiral kidney burden and partially modulating the immune response.