Cellular therapy in Chagas' disease: potential applications in patients with chronic cardiomyopathy.
Nearly a century after its discovery, Chagas' disease, caused by the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi, remains a major health problem in Latin America. Although efforts in transmission control have contributed to a decrease in the number of new cases, approximately a third of chronic Chagasic individuals have or will develop the symptomatic forms of the disease, mainly cardiomyopathy. Chagas' disease is a progressively debilitating disease, which, at the final stages, there are no currently available treatments other than heart transplantation. In this scenario, cellular therapy is being tested as an alternative for millions of patients with heart dysfunction due to Chagas' disease. In this article, we review the studies of cellular therapy in animal models and in patients with Chagasic cardiomyopathy and the possible mechanisms by which cellular therapy may act in this disease.
Soares
Milena B P
MB
Centro de Pesquisas Gonçalo Moniz, FIOCRUZ. Rua Waldemar Falcão, 121 Candeal, Salvador, BA, 40296-710, Brazil.
Garcia
Simone
S
Campos de Carvalho
Antonio Carlos
AC
Ribeiro dos Santos
Ricardo
R
D000818:Animals; D016026:Bone Marrow Transplantation / Q000379:methods / Q000473:pathology / Q000639:trends; D009202:Cardiomyopathies / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D017690:Cell Transplantation / Q000379:methods* / Q000473:pathology / Q000639:trends*; D014355:Chagas Disease / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D002908:Chronic Disease; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D006801:Humans