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Immunoneuroendocrine alterations in patients with progressive forms of chronic Chagas disease

A R Pérez1, S D Silva-Barbosa, L R Berbert

  • 1Instituto de Inmunología, Facultad de Ciencias Médicas, Universidad Nacional de Rosario, Argentina. perez.ana@conicet.gov.ar

Journal of Neuroimmunology
|April 19, 2011
PubMed

Insights

Severe Chagas myocarditis involves systemic inflammation and disrupted neuroendocrine responses. This suggests a lack of anti-inflammatory mechanisms, contributing to the disease

Area of Science:

  • Immunology
  • Neuroendocrinology
  • Cardiology

Background:

  • Chronic Chagas myocarditis is a progressive cardiac disease.
  • The interplay between immune and neuroendocrine systems in Chagas disease is not well understood.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate parallel immunoneuroendocrine responses in patients with varying degrees of chronic Chagas myocarditis.
  • To characterize systemic inflammation and hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activation in severe Chagas disease.

Main Methods:

  • Comparative analysis of patients with different Chagas myocarditis severities and healthy controls.
  • Measurement of systemic inflammatory markers.
  • Assessment of HPA axis hormones, including dehydroepiandrosterone-sulfate (DHEA-s) and cortisol.

Main Results:

  • Severe Chagas myocarditis patients exhibited a systemic inflammatory profile compared to healthy subjects.
  • Disrupted HPA axis activation was observed, with decreased dehydroepiandrosterone-sulfate (DHEA-s) concentrations.
  • An unbalanced cortisol/DHEA-s ratio indicated a compromised anti-inflammatory milieu in severe disease.

Conclusions:

  • Progressive Chagas disease is associated with parallel immune and neuroendocrine disturbances.
  • Severe Chagas myocarditis may lack an adequate anti-inflammatory environment, potentially contributing to cardiac pathology.
  • This study provides the first evidence of concurrent neuroendocrine and inflammatory alterations in human Chagas disease progression.

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