Enhanced expression of NLRP3 inflammasome components by monocytes of patients with pulmonary paracoccidioidomycosis is associated with smoking and intracellular hypoxemia

Publication date: Available online 23 November 2019Source: Microbes and InfectionAuthor(s): Barbara Casella Amorim, Ana Carla Pereira-Latini, Márjorie de Assis Golim, Raul Lopes Ruiz Júnior, Hugo Hyung Bok Yoo, Maria Sueli Parreira de Arruda, Aldo Henrique Tavares, Ricardo Souza Cavalcante, Rinaldo Poncio Mendes, Alessandra Pontillo, James VenturiniAbstractParacoccidioidomycosis (PCM) is a systemic mycosis caused by thermally dimorphic fungi of the genus Paracoccidioides that affects predominantly 30-60-year-old male rural workers. The main clinical forms of the disease are acute/subacute, chronic (CF); almost all CF patients develop pulmonary fibrosis, and they also exhibit emphysema due to smoke. An important cytokine in this context, IL-1β, different from the others, is produced by an intracellular multimolecular complex called inflammasome that is activated by pathogens and/or host signs of damage. Inflammasome has been recognized for its contribution to chronic inflammatory diseases, from that, we hypothesized that this activation could be involved in paracoccidioidomycosis, contributing to chronic inflammation. While inflammasome activation has been demonstrated in experimental models of P. brasiliensis infection, no information is available in patients, leading us to investigate the participation of NLRP3-inflammasome machinery in CF/PCM patients from a Brazilian endemic area. Our findings showed increased priming in mRNA levels of NLRP3 inflammasome genes by monocy...
Source: Microbes and Infection - Category: Infectious Diseases Source Type: research