Morphological and immunohistochemical characterization of the thymus of hamsters infected with Leishmania infantum

Abstract

The thymus is necessary for the differentiation of T cells in a context that depends on the type of antigens found by thymocytes, the environment that differentiates the cells and the architecture of the thymus. These characteristics are altered by the local infection and by mediators accompanying the systemic infection. It was believed that the thymus was an immune privileged organ, but it was now known how antimicrobial responses are also recruited to the thymus. The resolution of the infection is important because the chronic persistence of microbes prevents the pathogenic differentiation of the thymic cells. Understanting as the immunological system contribute to the resistance or the possibility of the disease requiring further investigation during visceral leishmaniasis. Considering the possibility of validating the changes that are being observed in dogs naturally infected with visceral leishmaniasis, in a classical experimental model that uses the infection of hamsters with Leishmania, and also, the importance of the thymus in the maturation/differentiation of progenitor cells originating from bone marrow in functional T cells, the present study aims to characterize the tissue morphology and distribution of hematopoietic and stromal cells in the thymus of hamsters infected with Leishmania infantum.