A CELL-CULTURING SYSTEM FOR THE STUDY OF INTERACTION BETWEEN MACROPHAGES INFECTED WITH Leishmania amazonensis

The cell culture insert system is a culturing system for the study of contact-independent cellular communication. Leishmaniasis is a neglect tropical disease with no vaccines and the availabledrugs present toxic side effects. Studies on Leishmania interaction with host macrophages aim to develop strategies for parasite control and drug development. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of interaction between non-infected and L. amazonensis-infected human macrophages, by using the cell culture system. The results showed that the infection index was reduced by 56.2% as compared to controls only when infected macrophages were inserted on both sides of the Transwell membranes. An improvement in macrophage viability was also observed in this cell culture. The levels of interleukin-1β, an inflammatory cytokine, and nitric oxide, a microbicidal molecule, did not increase in L. amazonensis-infected macrophagecultures in the Transwell system; thus other soluble factors were responsible for parasite control.