Steroidogenic capacity of Trypanosoma cruzi trypomastigotes

American Trypanosomiasis is caused by the hemoflagellate Trypanosoma cruzi (T. cruzi) and affects millions of persons causing variable degrees of digestive and heart disturbances. As far as we concerned, T. cruzi capacity to synthesize steroid hormones has not been investigated. Therefore, the aim of this work was to investigate the capacity of T. cruzi trypomastigotes to transform tritiated steroid precursors into androgens and estrogens. The T. cruzi Tulahuén strain was obtained from mice blood. The trypomastigotes were cultured for 6 and 24 h in Dulbbeco's modified Eagle's medium plus FCS and antibiotics. Tritiated dehydroepiandrosterone or androstendione were added to the culture media and parasites were incubated for 6 or 24 h. The cultures were centrifuged and ether extracted. The steroids were analyzed by thin layer chromatography (TLC) in two solvent systems. After incubation with ³H-androstenedione, T. cruzi trypomastigotes synthesized ³H-testosterone (T), ³H-17β-estradiol (E₂) and ³H-estrone (E₁). Metabolism of ³H-DHEA by the parasites yielded ³H-androstendione and ³H-androstendiol at 6 h of incubation. The recrystallization procedure further demonstrated the ³H-androstendiol and ³H-17β-estradiol syntheses. Results indicate for the first time that T. cruzi trypomastigotes produce androgens and estrogens when incubated in the presence of steroid precursors and suggest the presence of active parasite steroidogenic enzymes.