Comparative analysis of the nitric oxide production by Leishmania sp.

The present report explores a comparative analysis of nitric oxide (NO(*)) production by three different species of Leishmania (L. amazonensis, L. braziliensis and L. chagasi). Among these species, L. braziliensis produced the highest amount of NO(*), measured in the supernatants of promastigotes cultures as nitrite, a stable by-product derived from NO(*). We have previously described the expression of a constitutive nitric oxide synthase (cNOS) in L. amazonensis promastigotes and axenic amastigotes. Comparing those results with the present work, using immunofluorescence assay, it was shown that both L. braziliensis and L. chagasi also express a cNOS. Immunostaining experiments showed that promastigotes from early passages of these species in culture had a strong immunoreactivity against anti-cNOS and anti-endothelial cell NOS, in comparison with the same parasite cultured for long time, suggesting a correlation between the NO(*) production and the presence of metacyclic forms prominent in those newly isolated parasites. These data corroborate findings of a higher NO(*) production by those parasites, following the growth curve. The relationship between the two NO(*)-generating systems in the parasite and in their host cell warrants further investigation. The presence of cNOS raises the possibility of a similar type of cross-talk or down-regulation between the NO(*) signaling systems in host cells and the lower eukaryotic-like Leishmania sp.