Background
Leishmaniasis causes alterations and lesions in the genital system, which leads to azoospermia and testicular atrophy in animals during the chronic phase of the infection. The
Conclusion
Extracellular amastigotes migrated to the epididymis posing as a potential major factor of parasite persistence and venereal transmission of L. chagasi infection in hamsters.
Methods
Animals were intraperitoneally inoculated with amastigotes from L. chagasi. At different time points animals were euthanized and genital organs processed for histo-pathological, qPCR, cytokines and testosterone detection assays.
Results
Our results showed a high parasite load in testis, followed by an increase of pro-inflammatory cytokines IL1-β, TNF-α and IFN-γ, and testosterone. Subsequently, IL-4 expression was upregulated and basal parasite persistence in testis was observed using the experimental approach.