Tumor Necrosis Factor Is a Therapeutic Target for Immunological Unbalance and Cardiac Abnormalities in Chronic Experimental Chagas’ Heart Disease

Figure 5

Anti-TNF therapy reduces the frequency of IL-17A⁺ CD4⁺ cells but increases the frequency of IL-10⁺ CD4⁺ cells in chronically Trypanosoma cruzi-infected mice. C57BL/6 mice infected with 100 bt of the Colombian T. cruzi strain were treated from 120 to 150 dpi and analyzed at 150 dpi. (a) Frequencies of IL-17A⁺ and (b) IL-10⁺ cells among CD4⁺ cells in the spleen [R1 (SSCxFSC)/R2 (TCRα β/CD4) gated]. (c) Relative ratios of IL-17A/IL-10 in saline-injected and anti-TNF treated infected mice. ^∗∗∗𝑃<0.001, T. cruzi-infected mice (saline injected or anti-TNF treated) compared to NI controls. ^#𝑃<0.05 and ^##𝑃<0.01, anti-TNF-treated compared to saline-injected T. cruzi-infected mice. Bar represents the mean ± SD of the studied group (4 to 6 mice). These data represent three independent experiments.

(a)

(b)

(c)