Arginase expression in peritoneal macrophages and increase in circulating polyamine levels in mice infected with Schistosoma mansoni |
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Authors: | Abdallahi O M Bensalem H Augier R Diagana M De Reggi M Gharib B |
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Institution: | (1) INSERM U-399, 27 Blvd Jean-Moulin, 13385 Marseille Cedex 5 (France), Fax + 33 491 796 063, e-mail: bouchra.gharib@medecine.univ-mrs.fr , FR;(2) CNRS, Laboratoire de Neurobiologie, Marseille (France), FR |
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Abstract: | We investigated the nitric oxide (NO) synthase and arginase pathways in resident peritoneal macrophages of mice infected
with the tropical parasite Schistosoma mansoni. The two enzymes may have opposite effects, insofar as NO may be involved in the killing of the parasite whereas arginase
may stimulate parasite growth via polyamine synthesis. We determined the effects of the infection on the expression and activity
of the two enzymes in macrophages, before and after cytokine activation. Cells from infected mice expressed the hepatic type
I arginase, whereas in control cells, the enzyme was expressed only after cytokine activation, as were NO synthase II and
type II arginase in both groups of cells. Moreover, we found that in infected mice, arginase expression in macrophages was
associated with a ten fold increase in the concentration of circulating ornithine-derived polyamines. This may be of pathological
importance, since parasitic helminths are though to be dependent on their hosts for the uptake and interconversion of polyamines.
Received 13 March 2001; received after revision 4 May 2001; accepted 7 June 2001 |
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Keywords: | , Arginase, NO synthase, polyamine, infectious disease, schistosomiasis, |
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