Chagas disease and anticardiolipin antibodies in older adults

Infectious agents have been implicated in the induction of antiphospholipid antibodies and the development of antiphospholipid antibody syndrome. The objective of this study was to evaluate the association of anticardiolipin antibodies with Chagas' disease antibodies. A total of 45 patients, who were positive for Chagas' disease (American Trypanosomiasis) antibodies and had elevated levels of anticardiolipin antibodies, were investigated in a case-control study. Twenty-four of the patients were male and 21 female with ages ranging from 60 to 81 years and with a mean age of 68.3 years. Twenty-three female and 11 male individuals from a senior citizen support group who were apparently healthy formed a control group. Their ages varied from 62 to 80 years with a mean of 68 years. The measurement of anticardiolipin antibodies was performed by means of enzyme-linked immunoabsorbent assay (ELISA) for quantitative measurement of IgG and IgM antibodies against cardiolipins in serum and evaluation of Chagas' disease was confirmed by the Machado Guerreiro test. Statistical analysis was made using Fisher's exact test with a confidence interval of 95% and a p-value <0.05. Elevated levels of anticardiolipin antibodies were detected in 48.8% of the patients and in 26.4% of the control group giving a p-value <0.038 using the Fisher's exact test. Thus, an association between Chagas' disease antibodies and anticardiolipin antibodies was evidenced in this series of patients.