2019 Research in the Capitol
Presentation Type
Open Access Poster Presentation
Keywords
Leishmania; Parasitic diseases--Sex factors; Immunologic diseases--Sex factors;
Abstract
Worldwide, 12 million people are infected with Leishmania spp. parasites. Leishmania are transmitted by the bite of sand flies. The parasite is internalized by immune cells where they develop, reproduce, and spread to new immune cells causing disease. Epidemiological studies have shown that males are more likely to develop disease. We recently demonstrated that Leishmania infantum survive better in immune cells of male origin than in cells derived from females. We also showed that L. infantum infection is characterized by fat accumulation. Additional experiments have shown that infected immune cells from males accumulate more fat than cells from females. We hypothesize that increased fat accumulation in immune cells of male-origin facilitate parasite survival and provide a basis for the increase male susceptibility in L. infantum infection.
Start Date
1-4-2019 11:00 AM
End Date
1-4-2019 2:30 PM
Event Host
University Honors Programs, Iowa Regent Universities
Faculty Advisor
Nilda E. Rodriguez
Department
Department of Biology
Copyright
©2019 Victor A. Soupene, Ryan D. Lockard, Mary E. Wilson, and Nilda E. Rodríguez
File Format
application/pdf
Recommended Citation
Soupene, Victor A.; Lockard, Ryan D.; Wilson, Mary E.; and Rodriguez, Nilda E., "Induction of Lipid Bodies in Leishmania infantum-infected C57BL/6 macrophages of male versus female origin" (2019). Research in the Capitol. 8.
https://scholarworks.uni.edu/rcapitol/2019/all/8
Induction of Lipid Bodies in Leishmania infantum-infected C57BL/6 macrophages of male versus female origin
Worldwide, 12 million people are infected with Leishmania spp. parasites. Leishmania are transmitted by the bite of sand flies. The parasite is internalized by immune cells where they develop, reproduce, and spread to new immune cells causing disease. Epidemiological studies have shown that males are more likely to develop disease. We recently demonstrated that Leishmania infantum survive better in immune cells of male origin than in cells derived from females. We also showed that L. infantum infection is characterized by fat accumulation. Additional experiments have shown that infected immune cells from males accumulate more fat than cells from females. We hypothesize that increased fat accumulation in immune cells of male-origin facilitate parasite survival and provide a basis for the increase male susceptibility in L. infantum infection.
