Human chronic chagasic cardiopathy: participation of parasite antigens, subsets of lymphocytes, cytokines and microvascular abnormalities.
This article tries to demonstrate by new pathological findings (with the use of immunohistochemical technique and confocal laser microscopy) that chronic chagasic cardiomyopathy is a result of multiple factors involving myocarditis, immunodepression, severe fibrosis and microvessels dilatation and that all of these alterations are probably directly related with the presence of Trypanosoma cruzi parasites in the host associated with inadequate immunological response of the host.
de Lourdes Higuchi
M
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Serviço de Anatomia Patológica, Instituto do Coração, Hospital das Clínicas, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de São Paulo, Brasil. anplourdes@incor.usp.br
D000818:Animals; D000953:Antigens, Protozoan / Q000276:immunology; D002311:Cardiomyopathy, Dilated / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D002319:Cardiovascular System / Q000276:immunology*; D002598:Chagas Cardiomyopathy / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D002908:Chronic Disease; D016207:Cytokines / Q000276:immunology; D004719:Endomyocardial Fibrosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000469:parasitology; D006801:Humans; D016131:Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000276:immunology*; D014349:Trypanosoma cruzi / Q000276:immunology / Q000472:pathogenicity*
D000953:Antigens, Protozoan; D016207:Cytokines