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. 1987 Dec;55(12):3188–3191. doi: 10.1128/iai.55.12.3188-3191.1987

Elaboration by mammalian mesenchymal cells infected with Trypanosoma cruzi of a fibroblast-stimulating factor that may contribute to chagasic cardiomyopathy.

D J Wyler 1, P Libby 1, S Prakash 1, R P Prioli 1, M E Pereira 1
PMCID: PMC260047  PMID: 3119501

Abstract

Myocardial fibrosis can occur as a complication of chronic infection of the heart with Trypanosoma cruzi (Chagas' disease) and can lead to serious disability. To assess whether there might be a direct relationship between intracellular parasitization and subsequent tissue fibrosis in this disease, we tested serum-free conditioned media from cultures of fibroblasts, vascular smooth-muscle cells, and myocardial cells for fibroblast-stimulating activity. Conditioned media from all infected cultures, but not from uninfected cultures, stimulated fibroblast [3H]thymidine incorporation, DNA and protein synthesis, and cell proliferation. Fibroblast-stimulating activity was also detected in extracts of amastigotes but not of trypomastigotes or epimastigotes. We conclude that parasitization of mesenchymal cells, including myocardial cells, results in elaboration of a fibroblast-stimulating factor(s), perhaps of parasite origin. We postulate that this factor may play a role in initiation of myocardial fibrosis in Chagas' disease.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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