Figure 3.

Cellular response of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from chronic Chagas disease patients triggered by cytosolic tryparedoxin peroxidase (c‐TXNPx): 2 × 10⁵ PBMC/well from asymptomatic (AS; n = 11) and cardiac (CCC; n = 11) Chagas patients and non‐infected donors (NI; n = 8) were incubated with Trypanosoma cruzi lysate, recombinant c‐TXNPx and no‐antigen (culture medium only) or mock as controls for 5 days in complete RPMI medium. Each condition was performed in triplicate. (a, c) Cells were pulsed with [³H]thymidine for the last 18 hr of incubation, and PBMC proliferation was determined by [³H]thymidine uptake. (b, d) Culture supernatants were collected after 5 days of stimulation with c‐TXNPx, mock or T. cruzi lysate, and interferon‐γ (IFN‐γ) secretion was quantified by ELISA. Box and whisker plots (min to max) show the stimulation index (SI), calculated for each readout as the mean value for triplicate stimulated cultures of each individual divided by the mean value of triplicate non‐stimulated cultures (medium only). Each dot represents data from a single individual. Statistical analysis was performed using linear mixed‐effects models fitted by maximum likelihood and Tukey honest significant difference for post hoc comparisons. Statistically significant differences between groups are indicated (***P < 0·001, **P < 0·01, *P < 0·05).