The Search for Biomarkers and Treatments in Chagas Disease: Insights From TGF-Beta Studies and Immunogenetics.

ABSTRACT: The anti-inflammatory cytokine transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) plays an important role in Chagas disease (CD), a potentially life-threatening illness caused by Trypanosoma cruzi. In this review we revisited clinical studies in CD patients combined with in vitro and in vivo experiments, presenting three main sections: an overview of epidemiological, economic, and clinical aspects of CD and the need for new biomarkers and treatment; a brief panorama of TGF-β roles and its intracellular signaling pathways, and an update of what is known about TGF-β and Chagas disease. In in vitro assays, TGF-β increases during T. cruzi infection and modulates heart cells invasion by the parasite fostering its intracellular parasite cycle. TGF-β modulates host immune

SUBMITTER: Ferreira RR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8847772 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature