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Persistence of Trypanosoma cruzi in chronic chagasic cardiopathy patients

V Monteón-Padilla1, N Hernández-Becerril, M A Ballinas-Verdugo

  • 1Laboratorio de Inmunoparasitología, Instituto Nacional de Cardiología Ignacio Chávez, Mexico City, Mexico. victormonteon@hotmail.com

Archives of Medical Research
|April 3, 2001
PubMed

Insights

Molecular methods detect persistent Trypanosoma cruzi in chronic chagasic cardiopathy patients, even with low parasitemia. This parasite persistence may drive ongoing immune responses and disease progression.

Area of Science:

  • Infectious Diseases
  • Cardiology
  • Molecular Biology

Background:

  • Patients with chronic chagasic cardiopathy exhibit strong immune responses to Trypanosoma cruzi but have low, transient parasitemia.
  • Conventional diagnostic methods often fail to detect parasite persistence in these patients.
  • Molecular biology offers sensitive tools to identify parasite presence, crucial for understanding Chagas disease pathogenesis.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the persistence of Trypanosoma cruzi in patients with chronic chagasic cardiopathy using molecular techniques.
  • To compare the sensitivity of hemoculture and PCR for detecting Trypanosoma cruzi in blood samples.
  • To examine parasite presence in cardiac tissues of a chronic chagasic cardiopathy necropsy case.

Main Methods:

  • Studied 16 patients with chronic chagasic cardiopathy from Mexico, confirmed by clinical evaluation and antibodies to Trypanosoma cruzi.
  • Collected blood samples for hemoculture and Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) analysis.
  • Analyzed archival cardiac tissues from a necropsy case using immunohistochemistry and PCR.

Main Results:

  • Hemoculture detected Trypanosoma cruzi in 31% of patients, predominantly in the 25-40 age group.
  • PCR demonstrated parasite presence in 81% of patients, indicating higher sensitivity than hemoculture.
  • Parasitemia levels did not correlate with clinical findings or antibody titers. The autopsy case revealed parasite antigens and DNA in heart tissues.

Conclusions:

  • Chronic chagasic cardiopathy is associated with persistent Trypanosoma cruzi infection, even with undetectable parasitemia.
  • The continuous parasite presence may sustain immune stimulation, potentially contributing to pathogenic immune or autoimmune damage.
  • Molecular diagnostics are essential for revealing parasite persistence in chronic Chagas disease.
Abstract

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