immunology of infectious and parasitic diseases - XXXVII Congress ...

ROLE OF CD163 IN THE Mycobacterium leprae SURVIVAL AND
PERSISTENCE IN LEPROMATOUS MACROPHAGES
Roberta Olmo Pinheiro 1 , Danielle Fonseca de Moura 1 , Katherine Antunes de
Mattos 2 , Thaís Porto Amadeu 1 , Priscila Ribeiro Andrade 1 , Jorgenilce Souza
Sales 1 , Verônica Schmitz 1 , José Augusto da Costa Nery 1 , Euzenir Nunes
Sarno 1 .
(1) Oswaldo Cruz Institute, Leprosy Laboratory, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
(2) Oswaldo Cruz Institute, Cellular Microbiology Laboratory, Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil.
Introduction: Lepromatous (LL) macrophages possess a regulatory phenotype
that contributes to the immunosuppression observed in leprosy. CD163, a
scavenger receptor that recognizes hemoglobin-haptoglobin complexes, is
expressed at higher levels in lepromatous cells although its functional role in
leprosy is not yet well-established.
Methods and Results: Lepromatous lesions are microenvironments rich in
CD163 - IDO positive cells. Isolated cells from these lesions are
CD68 + IDO + CD163 + , while higher levels of sCD163 (6017.0 ± 593.9 in LL vs.
1435.0 ± 129.6 in HC; 6017.0 ± 593.9 in LL vs. 2150.0 ± 112.1 in BT, p