Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Journal of Clinical Microbiology logoLink to Journal of Clinical Microbiology
. 1985 Sep;22(3):438–441. doi: 10.1128/jcm.22.3.438-441.1985

Longitudinal study of immune response in human Chagas' disease.

W Mosca, J Plaja, R Hubsch, R Cedillos
PMCID: PMC268428  PMID: 3930564

Abstract

Immune response, clinical status, and reactivity to heart tissue were studied longitudinally for 1 year in 42 patients with Chagas' disease (South American trypanosomiasis). The patients were divided into two groups. Group 1 was composed of patients with chagasic infection with no evidence of heart disease. Group 2 patients had chagasic infection and cardiomyopathy. Humoral immune response to Trypanosoma cruzi was measured serologically, and cell-mediated immune responses to T. cruzi and rat heart antigens were evaluated by lymphoblastogenesis. Parasitemia was detected by xenodiagnosis. Serological tests for anti-T. cruzi antibodies were positive in all patients of both groups, and the titers were significantly higher in group 2. A change of titer during the study period was more frequently associated with a positive xenodiagnosis in both groups. Lymphoblastogenesis in response to T. cruzi antigen was positive at least once in all patients of both groups. When rat heart antigen was used, 44.4% of the patients in group 1 and 40.0% of those in group 2 were positive on at least one occasion. Xenodiagnosis revealed that 20% of the patients in group 1 and 50% of those in group 2 (P = 0.01) had detectable circulating parasites during the course of the study. Positive xenodiagnosis was associated with lower lymphoblastogenic responses to T. cruzi in group 1 patients, suggesting the presence of a regulatory or modulatory mechanism which is lost in patients with chagasic cardiomyopathy. No relationship between positive xenodiagnosis and positive lymphoblastogenesis in response to heart antigen could be established. In addition, no correlation was found between clinical heart disease and reactivity to rat heart tissue.

Full text

PDF
438

Selected References

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

  1. BOYDEN S. V. The adsorption of proteins on erythrocytes treated with tannic acid and subsequent hemagglutination by antiprotein sera. J Exp Med. 1951 Feb;93(2):107–120. doi: 10.1084/jem.93.2.107. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Camargo M. E. Fluorescent antibody test for the serodiagnosis of American trypanosomiasis. Technical modification employing preserved culture forms of Trypanosoma cruzi in a slide test. Rev Inst Med Trop Sao Paulo. 1966 Sep-Oct;8(5):227–235. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Cedillos R. A., Torrealba J. W., Tonn R. J., Mosca W., Ortegón A. El xenodiagnóstico artificial en la enfermedad de Chagas. Bol Oficina Sanit Panam. 1982 Sep;93(3):240–249. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Khoury E. L., Diez C., Cossio P. M., Arana R. M. Heterophil nature of EVI antibody in Trypanosoma cruzi infection. Clin Immunol Immunopathol. 1983 May;27(2):283–288. doi: 10.1016/0090-1229(83)90078-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Kirsner A. B., Hess E. V., Fowler N. O. Immunologic findings in idiopathic cardiomyopathy: a prospective serial study. Am Heart J. 1973 Nov;86(5):625–630. doi: 10.1016/0002-8703(73)90339-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. MAEKELT G. A. [The complement fixation reaction in Chagas' disease]. Z Tropenmed Parasitol. 1960 Aug;11:152–186. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Montufar O. M., Musatti C. C., Mendes E., Mendes N. F. Cellular immunity in chronic Chagas' disease. J Clin Microbiol. 1977 Apr;5(4):401–404. doi: 10.1128/jcm.5.4.401-404.1977. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Mosca W. Immune response in human Chagas disease II. Lymphocyte blastogenesis in patients with chagasic cardiomyopathy. Acta Cient Venez. 1980;31(5):464–467. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Mosca W., Plaja J. Delayed hypersensitivity to heart antigens in Chagas' disease as measured by in vitro lymphocyte stimulation. J Clin Microbiol. 1981 Jul;14(1):1–5. doi: 10.1128/jcm.14.1.1-5.1981. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Mosca W., Plaja J., Gallardo E., García Barrios H. Immune response in human Chagas' disease I. lymphocyte blastogenesis in chagasic patients without evidence of cardiomyopathy. Acta Cient Venez. 1979;30(4):401–404. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. OYAMA V. I., EAGLE H. Measurement of cell growth in tissue culture with a phenol reagent (folin-ciocalteau). Proc Soc Exp Biol Med. 1956 Feb;91(2):305–307. doi: 10.3181/00379727-91-22245. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Santos-Buch C. A., Teixeira A. R. The immunology of experimental Chagas' disease. 3. Rejection of allogeneic heart cells in vitro. J Exp Med. 1974 Jul 1;140(1):38–53. doi: 10.1084/jem.140.1.38. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Strausz I., Dóbiás G. Autoantibodies reacting with heart muscle tissue in coronary heart disease. J Clin Pathol. 1967 Mar;20(2):161–165. doi: 10.1136/jcp.20.2.161. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Teixeira A. R., Teixeira G., Macêdo V., Prata A. Trypanosoma cruzi-sensitized T-lymphocyte mediated 51CR release from human heart cells in Chagas' disease. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 1978 Nov;27(6):1097–1107. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.1978.27.1097. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Todd C. W., Todd N. R., Guimaraes A. C. Do lymphocytes from Chagasic patients respond to heart antigens? Infect Immun. 1983 May;40(2):832–835. doi: 10.1128/iai.40.2.832-835.1983. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Tschudi E. I., Anziano D. F., Dalmasso A. P. Lymphocyte transformation in Chagas disease. Infect Immun. 1972 Dec;6(6):905–908. doi: 10.1128/iai.6.6.905-908.1972. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Ulrich M., de Salas B., Convit J. Lymphocyte transformation with phytomitogens in leprosy. Int J Lepr Other Mycobact Dis. 1972 Jan-Mar;40(1):4–9. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Wartenberg J., Brostoff J. Leucocyte migration inhibition by heart extract and liver mitochondria in patients with myocardial infarction. Br Heart J. 1973 Aug;35(8):845–848. doi: 10.1136/hrt.35.8.845. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of Clinical Microbiology are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES