Generation of TNFα, IFNγ, IL-4, IL-6 and IL-10 in Trichinella spiralis infected mice: Effect of the anti-inflammatory compound mimosine

The plant amino acid mimosine has been demonstrated to arrest cell cycle progression in the late G1-phase, and inhibits [3H] thymidine incorporation in cultured fibroblasts. In this study, 10 mice were infected with Trichinella spiralis, a nematode parasite, and treated with the anti-inflammatory compound L-mimosine to determine if any alteration in the chronic inflammatory state occurred by investigating the host's immunological response. Mimosine was used at 250 μg/bolus for 25 days starting five days before the infection and continuing daily for 35 days then TNFα, IFN-γ, IL-4, IL-6, and IL-10 were determined by ELISA method, after 0, 1, 7, 14, 21, 28, 35 days post-infection, in the serum of treated or untreated animals. When animals with T. spiralis were treated with L-mimosine, inhibition of TNFα was observed within 21 days post-infection, compared with the controls (untreated mice). IFNγ was inhibited only up to the 21st day, while IL-6 was inhibited up to the 7th day post-infection and the inhibition of IL-4 was seen mainly at 21st and 35th day p.i. Mimosine-treated mice did not statistically affect the secretion of IL-10 (p > 0.05). In healthy animals, the production of cytokines were within the same limits compared with those of non-infected animals treated with L-mimosine. Our studies suggest that mimosine proved to be more effective in inhibiting TNFα and IL-6, which are mainly produced by macrophages and less effective in inhibiting IL-4, which is produced by T-cells.