Disease Tolerance and Pathogen Resistance Genes May Underlie Trypanosoma cruzi Persistence and Differential Progression to Chagas Disease Cardiomyopathy.

ABSTRACT: Chagas disease is caused by infection with the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi and affects over 8 million people worldwide. In spite of a powerful innate and adaptive immune response in acute infection, the parasite evades eradication, leading to a chronic persistent infection with low parasitism. Chronically infected subjects display differential patterns of disease progression. While 30% develop chronic Chagas disease cardiomyopathy (CCC)-a severe inflammatory dilated cardiomyopathy-decades after infection, 60% of the patients remain disease-free, in the asymptomatic/indeterminate (ASY) form, and 10% develop gastrointestinal disease. Infection of genetically deficient mice provided a map of genes relevant for resistance to T. cruzi infection, leading to the identification of multiple genes l

SUBMITTER: Chevillard C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6286977 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature