Avaliação do receptor 5-HT3A no sistema imune de pacientes chagásicos portadores e não portadores do megacólon chagásico

Abstract

Chagas´ disease is caused by Trypanosoma cruzi and remains one of the most neglected diseases in Latin America. Among its main clinical forms, the chagasic megacolon is found. Despite being known for more than half a century, his causes still obscure. Recent evidence indicates a close relationship between the immune system and the enteric nervous system in the development of this chagasic etiology. We believe that the low expression of 5-HT3A serotonin receptor on lymphocytes could be linked to the megacolon´s development. For this we characterize the distribution of CD4, CD8 and CD20 lymphocytes and their 5-HT3A receptor expression. Our results demonstrated that chagasic patients without megacolon present higher expression of the 5-HT3A receptor in all analyzed lymphocytes compared with chagasic patients with megacolon. We believe that the high expression of this receptor may lead to immunomodulation and prevent chagasic megacolon´s installation.