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Updated: Jun 27, 2026

Parasite Induced Genetically Driven Autoimmune Chagas Heart Disease in the Chicken Model
Published on: July 29, 2012
Neuropathy of gastrointestinal Chagas' disease: immune response to myelin antigens
Elaine C Oliveira1, Márcia M Fujisawa, Dannie E M Hallal Longo
1Neuroimmunology Unit, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Campinas, Campinas, Brazil.
Abstract:
Most reports of autoimmune response during infection with the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi have dealt with the cardiomyopathic form of Chagas' disease, but little is known about the mechanisms of tissue damage involved in the gastrointestinal form, which was studied here. Chronically infected patients with a severe gastrointestinal form of Chagas' disease present increased antibody production and proliferative responses to peripheral myelin components, such as myelin basic protein (MBP), which is homologous to the P1 protein fraction of peripheral myelin. T lymphocytes preferentially recognize a region on the MBP molecule (1-30), which suggests that the MBP is a potential target on the peripheral nerve for autoimmune reactions in patients with gastrointestinal lesions resulting from Chagas' disease.
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