Correlation between tissue damage and malondialdehydemia in mice infected with Trypanosoma cruzi

Evolution of the acute phase of experimental Chagas' disease was correlated with tissue damage and plasma levels of malondialdehyde. Heart lesions were quantified by the Tissue Damage Unit (TDU) and malondialdehydemia (MDA) by the colorimetric determination of malondialdehyde. The binary correlations were: C(X,Y) = 0.965 (P less than 0.001); C(Y,Z) = 0.784 (P less than 0.01); and C(X,Z) = 0.824 (P less than 0.01), where X = days of infection, Y = TDU means and Z = MDA means. These results show a positive correlation between the duration of the acute phase of experimental Chagas' disease and TDU, and between the duration and MDA. The methods for measuring tissue damage and MDA are shown to be simple and adequate for monitoring tissue aggression in the protozoosis studied.