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The genetically determined production of the alarmin eosinophil‐derived neurotoxin is reduced in visceral leishmaniasis
Author(s) -
Blom Kristin,
Elshafie Amir I.,
Jönsson UllaBritt,
Rönnelid Johan,
Håkansson Lena Douhan,
Venge Per
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
apmis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.909
H-Index - 88
eISSN - 1600-0463
pISSN - 0903-4641
DOI - 10.1111/apm.12780
Subject(s) - visceral leishmaniasis , eosinophil , immunology , genotype , leishmaniasis , biology , single nucleotide polymorphism , eosinophilia , gene , leishmania , parasite hosting , genetics , asthma , world wide web , computer science
Visceral leishmaniasis ( VL ) is the most severe form of leishmaniasis. Recent findings indicate that dendritic cells have a key role in the defense against the Leishmania parasite and that the activity of this cell may be modified by the eosinophil secretory protein eosinophil‐derived neurotoxin ( EDN ). We hypothesized that the interactions between dendritic cells and EDN might be of importance in the disease development. Cellular content of EDN was analyzed by ELISA . The single‐nucleotide polymorphisms at positions 405, 416, and 1122 in the EDN gene were analyzed by real‐time PCR with TaqMan ® reagents. The study cohorts comprised 239 Sudanese subjects (65 healthy controls and 174 with VL ) and 300 healthy Swedish controls. The eosinophil content of EDN was lower in VL as compared with controls (p < 0.0001). The EDN 405 (G>C) genotype distribution was similar among Swedish and Sudanese controls, whereas VL subjects had a higher prevalence of the EDN 405‐ GG genotype (p < 0.0001). The content of EDN in the eosinophils was closely linked to the EDN 405 polymorphism (p = 0.0002). Our findings suggest that the predisposition to acquire VL is related to the genetic polymorphism of the EDN gene and the reduced production by the eosinophil of this gene product.