title: Can we heal Chagas infection?
abstract: We present a model for the parasite-antibody dynamical competition between Trypanosoma rangeli and its antibodies during the acute phase of an infection in a mammal host. The model reproduces experimental data from murine models found in the literature and allows us to demonstrate that a preinfection with T. rangeli induces a temporary protective effect against Chagas disease. As the mammal immune system is able to eliminate a single T. rangeli infection, the host high antibody levels, needed to resist the Chagas infection, are reduced with time, returning the system to the initial healthy state. Our results suggest that a preinfection with T. rangeli could be used to reduce the in-house vectorial parasitemia through repeated vaccination of domestic animals.
authors.affiliation: IFEG - CONICET and FAMAF, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Medina Allende s/n, 5000 Córdoba, Argentina.
authors.forename: S P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Vega Royero
authors.forename: G J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Sibona
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000906:Antibodies / Q000276:immunology; D014355:Chagas Disease / Q000276:immunology* / Q000469:parasitology / Q000628:therapy*; D007107:Immune System; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008808:Mice, Inbred CBA; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D018512:Parasitemia / Q000276:immunology; D013045:Species Specificity; D014349:Trypanosoma cruzi / Q000276:immunology / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D057509:Trypanosoma rangeli / Q000276:immunology / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D014611:Vaccination
chemical_list: D000906:Antibodies
keywords: Chagas disease; Mathematical modeling; Trypanosoma cruzi; Trypanosoma rangeli