Fosfolipase A2-Asp-49 DE Bothrops jararacussu encapsulada em lipossomas como terapia alternativa para leishmaniose cutânea

Abstract

Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is endemic in several regions of the world. In Brazil, despite the wide variety of clinical manifestations, 75% of patients with CL display a typical clinical picture, characterized by one or more ulcers and high round edges with a central necrosis, usually in the lower extremities. Leishmania amazonensis is a major etiologic agent of a wide spectrum of clinical forms of leishmaniasis. The objective of this study was to investigate the in vitro and in vivo antileishmania amazonensis activity of phospholipase A2 (Asp49) isolated from Bothrops jararacussu venom encapsulated in liposomal system. The cytotoxicity of PLA2-Asp49-liposomal was determined by MTT method in J774 macrophages after 48h of incubation. Macrophages treated with PLA2-Asp49-liposomes had cell viability around 82% at the highest concentration (100 μg/mL), while promastigotes treated with the same concentration resulted 78% of inhibition. On the other hand, peritoneal macrophages from Balb/c mice infected and treated with PLA2-Asp49-liposomes showed a 28% reduction in phagocytic index and a 55% reduction (p <0.05) in the number of intracellular amastigotes after 48h of treatment compared to the control group. After the treatments, the supernatants of peritoneal macrophages were collected, and the production of TNF-α, IL-10 and nitric oxide was evaluated. It was observed that there was no IL-10 production by macrophages treated with PLA2-Asp49-liposomes when compared to the untreated control. However, this group presented significant levels of TNF-α and nitric oxide. After the physicochemical characterization of the liposomes it was observed that the size of the vesicles remained close to the diameter of the membrane used in the extrusion, with an average diameter of 205.2 nm for PLA2-Asp49-liposomes and 241.9 nm for the control liposomes. PLA2-Asp49 were also efficiently encapsulated in liposomes (69.6%). The molecular docking showed that lipids strongly interact with the active site of the enzyme PLA2-Asp49. The activity of the toxin-containing liposomes was evaluated in BALB/c mice, previously infected with 1x105 of the parasite's promastigotes. After six weeks of infection, treatments in different groups of animals were initiated and observed for 21 days. The size of the paw lesion in PLA2-Asp49-liposomal treated animals was observed as decreasing by approximately 18% relative to the untreated control group and the Glucantime®-treated animals, which was used as a reference drug. At the end of the treatment, the animals were sacrificed and the paw and lymph node tissues were collected. Part of the collection was used to recover amastigotes and another to quantify cytokines and nitrites. In the group treated with PLA2-Asp49-liposomes the parasitic load was observed to be reduced by 73.5% in the macerated lymph node, compared to the control group. Comparatively, in the paw tissue was observed a reduction of 57.12%. The infected groups treated with PLA2-Asp49-liposomes showed significant production in TNF-α (45 and 80 pg/mL) and nitrite levels (32 and 36 μM), respectively, in lymph node and paw tissues, compared to infected untreated groups. The results indicate that the liposomal system containing PLA2-Asp49 is a promising biotechnological tool to confer an antileishmania activity in infected macrophages.