title: Chronic Chagas' disease in rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta): evaluation of parasitemia, serology, electrocardiography, echocardiography, and radiology.
abstract: Severe chronic damage to the heart and gastrointestinal tract in patients with Chagas' disease are often observed 10-20 years after the acute phase. The course of long-lasting infection with the Colombian strain of Trypanosoma cruzi was studied in seven rhesus monkeys infected for 15-19 years. Subpatent parasitemia was detected in all studied animals, using hemoculture (two of seven), artificial xenodiagnosis (three of seven), and a polymerase chain reaction PCR (six of six). High titers of specific IgG antibody to T. cruzi persisted throughout the chronic phase of infection. Abnormal electrocardiographic (three of six) and echocardiographic (one of six) patterns detected in the T. cruzi-infected monkeys were possibly related to parasite-triggered myocardial damage. The results suggest that rhesus monkeys experimentally infected with T. cruzi, besides reproducing the acute phase of Chagas' disease, also develop chronic chagasic cardiomyopathy.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Microbiologia, Imunologia e Parasitologia, Instituto de Pesquisa Clínica Evandro Chagas, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Cristiano Marcelo Espinola
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Carvalho
authors.forename: Márcia Cristina Ribeiro
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Andrade
authors.forename: Sérgio Salles
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Xavier
authors.forename: Regina Helena Riccioppo
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Mangia
authors.forename: Constança Carvalho
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Britto
authors.forename: Ana Maria
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Jansen
authors.forename: Octavio
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Fernandes
authors.forename: Joseli
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lannes-Vieira
authors.forename: Maria Glória
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Bonecini-Almeida
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan / Q000097:blood*; D002598:Chagas Cardiomyopathy / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000469:parasitology / Q000503:physiopathology; D014355:Chagas Disease / Q000469:parasitology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002908:Chronic Disease; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004452:Echocardiography; D004562:Electrocardiography; D006801:Humans; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000097:blood; D008253:Macaca mulatta; D008297:Male; D018512:Parasitemia / Q000469:parasitology*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011859:Radiography; D014349:Trypanosoma cruzi / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000472:pathogenicity*
chemical_list: D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan; D007074:Immunoglobulin G