Resistance to visceral leishmaniasis is severely compromised in mice deficient of bradykinin B2-receptors

Abstract

Abstract Background Kinins liberated from plasma–borne kininogens, are potent innate stimulatory signals. We evaluated whether resistance to infection by Leishmania (L.) chagasi depends on activation of G-protein coupled bradykinin B2 receptors (B2R). Findings B2R −/− C57BL/6 knock-out (KOB2) and B2R+/+ C57BL/6-wild type control mice (C57) were infected with amastigotes of Leishmania (L.) chagasi. Thirty days after infection, the KOB2 mice showed 14% and 32% relative increases of liver (p Conclusions We found that mice lacking B2R display increased susceptibility to the infection by Leishmania (L.) chagasi. Our findings suggest that activation of the bradykinin/B2R pathway contributes to development of host resistance to visceral leishmaniasis.

Keywords

• B2 kinin receptor
• Visceral leishmaniasis
• Leishmania (L.) donovani
• Leishmania (L.) chagasi
• Susceptibility
• Resistance