[Digestive tract dilation in mice infected with Trypanosoma cruzi]

This paper will analyze alterations in the digestive tract (DT) of mice with chronic Chagas' disease infection produced by Trypanosoma cruzi from different sources. X-rays of the DT of 18 mice infected with T. cruzi and 6 control mice were compared after the ingestion of a barium sulfate solution over a period of 6 hours. 120 days post-infection (pi) the X-rays of the DT of the 5 mice of group 1A infected with trypanosomes DMI isolated from the opossum Didelphis marsupialis, and 4 mice in group 2A infected with the isolate EP taken from a patient with acute Chagas' disease, showed swelling of the stomach and the colon (C). 180 days pi, the X-rays of the DT of the 5 mice of group 1B infected with isolated DMI and the 4 mice in group 2B infected with isolate EP, showed an even greater swelling of the C. Histological examination of the DT of all infected mice showed extensive changes of the intestinal muscle layer, such as the diminution of the muscular and mucous layers and the loss of colonic folds and myoenteric plexus. These results suggest that T. cruzi populations caused severe alterations in the digestive system of the mice used in the experiment, and that the same alterations could occur in the digestive organs of humans, especially those living in areas where Chagas' disease is endemic, but where these abnormalities have not yet been reported.