Chagas disease, or American trypanosomiasis, is the result of infection by the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi. It is endemic in Latin America, and spreading around the globe due to human migration. Although it was first identified more than a century ago, only two old drugs are available for treatment and a lot of questions related to the disease progression, its pathologies, and not to mention the...

BACKGROUND Sudden death is the leading cause of death in Chagas' disease, affecting patients even in the early stages of the disease. The impairment of the autonomic nervous system in this disease has been recognized, as well as its potential as a trigger for malignant arrhythmias when associated with structural or metabolic changes. OBJECTIVE We sought to identify, in Chagas patients with pr...

This study assessed the number of CD4 T lymphocytes, the parasitemia and serum levels of interferon gamma (IFN-γ), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), interleukin-1 (IL-1), IL-4 and IL-10 of patients infected by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and human immunodeficiency virus/Chagas’ disease coinfection. CD4 T lymphocytes were low in the two groups of patients, although significantly lower ...

There is currently no "gold standard" test for the diagnosis of late-stage Chagas' disease. As a result, protection of the blood supply in areas where Chagas' disease is endemic remains problematic. A panel of 709 serum samples from subjects with confirmed Chagas' disease (n = 195), healthy controls (n = 400), and patients with other parasitic diseases (n = 114) was used to assess enzyme-linked...

The objective of this report is to describe treatment outcomes over a four-year period of patients with acute Chagas disease in the Amazon region of Brazil. An outbreak of Chagas disease in a low-income district of urban Belém, in September 2000, affected 11 people simultaneously, indicating the likelihood of indirect, oral transmission of Trypanosoma cruzi. Prior to treatment, patients underwe...

BACKGROUND Chagas' disease is an important neglected public health problem in many Latin American countries, but population-based epidemiological data are scarce. Here we present a nationwide analysis on Chagas-associated mortality, and risk factors for death from this disease. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS We analyzed all death certificates of individuals who died between 1999 and 2007 in B...

Transmission of Trypanosoma cruzi during pregnancy is estimated to occur in less than 20% of infected mothers; however, the etiopathogenesis is not completely understood. The Centre for Studies on Chagas Disease provides confirmation of T. cruzi infection for individuals living in central Brazil. In this retrospective hospital-based study, all requests for diagnosis of T. cruzi infection in ind...

1 Instituto de Bioquı́mica Médica, UFRJ, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil, 2 Fundação Cecierj/CEDERJ, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil, 3 Instituto Nacional de Metrologia, Qualidade e Tecnologia, Inmetro, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil, 4 Universidade Santa Úrsula, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil, 5 Instituto de Biofı́sica Carlos Chagas Filho, UFRJ, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil, 6 Núcleo Multidisciplinar de Pesquisa UFRJ-Xerém, UFRJ, Rio ...

This review provides an overview of the clinicopathological aspects of chronic Chagas' heart disease, and a comprehensive view of predictors of mortality for chagasic patients with Chagas' cardiopathy in an attempt to help physicians with the management of their patients.

Abstract Introduction Chagas disease, caused by the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi (T. cruzi), is leading causes of non-ischemic heart failure and premature cardiac deaths in Latin America. Identifying predictive biomarkers morbidity progression cardiomyopathy (CCC) important to deciphering novel pathways aid early identification patients at highest risk for future adverse cardiovascular (CV) outc...