The clinical immunology of human Chagas disease.
Human infection with the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi leads to Chagas disease, which affects approximately 17 million people in Latin America. A significant percentage of the infected population will develop clinical symptoms or present changes in laboratory and/or image evaluation. The existence of a large spectrum of clinical manifestations--with patients ranging from asymptomatic to severe cardiac involvement--emphasizes the need to use standardized and well-defined clinical criteria among different research groups. In this article, we carry out a systematic review of the immunology in human Chagas disease, discussing recent findings in the context of a clinical perspective.
Dutra
Walderez O
WO
Department of Morfologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Avenida Antônio Carlos 6627, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais 31270-901, Brazil.
Rocha
Manoel Otávio C
MO
Teixeira
Mauro M
MM
D000818:Animals; D002598:Chagas Cardiomyopathy / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D014355:Chagas Disease / Q000276:immunology* / Q000469:parasitology / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D014349:Trypanosoma cruzi / Q000276:immunology / Q000472:pathogenicity*