Efeito antiparasitário sobre Toxoplasma gondii induzido pela BNSP-7, uma PLA2-LYS49 homóloga da peçonha de Bothrops pauloensis

Abstract

CHAPTER II: Toxoplasmosis affects a third of world population with high incidence in tropical areas. Since this disease has great relevance in health public, the search for new therapeutic approaches has been considered. Here, we report the antiparasitic effects of BnSP-­7 toxin, a Lys49 phospholipase A2 homologue from Bothrops pauloensis snake venom, on Toxoplasma gondii. BnSP-­7 presented activity against HeLa host cells in higher doses (200 μg/mL to 50 μg/mL) by MTT assay, whereas in lower doses (25 μg/mL to 1.56 μg/mL) does not interfere with HeLa viability. Also, the toxin did not presented effects on T. gondii tachyzoite viability as carried out by trypan blue exclusion, but decreased both adhesion and parasite proliferation, when tachyzoites were treated before infection. We also performed cytokine measurements from supernatants collected from HeLa cells infected with T. gondii tachyzoites previously treated with RPMI or BnSP-­7. MIF and IL-­6 productions by HeLa cells were increased by BnSP-­7 treatment. These data suggest that the BnSP-­7 toxin is an important tool for the discovery of new parasite targets that can be exploited to develop new drugs for toxoplasmosis treatment.