title: Correlation between presence of Trypanosoma cruzi DNA in heart tissue of baboons and cynomolgus monkeys, and lymphocytic myocarditis.
abstract: Trypanosoma cruzi, the causative agent of Chagas' disease, preferentially infects cardiac and digestive tissues. Baboons living in Texas (Papio hamadryas) and cynomolgus monkeys (Macaca fascicularis) have been reported to be infected naturally with T. cruzi. In this study, we retrospectively reviewed cases of animals that were diagnosed with lymphocytic myocarditis and used a polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based method (S36/S35 primer set) to amplify T. cruzi DNA from archived frozen and formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) cardiac tissues. We show that the PCR method is applicable in archived frozen and FFPE tissues and the sensitivity is in the femtogram range. A positive correlation between PCR positivity and lymphocytic myocarditis in both baboons and cynomolgus monkeys is shown. We also show epicarditis as a common finding in animals infected with T. cruzi.
authors.affiliation: Southwest National Primate Research Center, Texas Biomedical Research Institute, San Antonio, Texas; Department of Biology, St. Mary's University, San Antonio, Texas.
authors.forename: James N
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Mubiru
authors.forename: Alice
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Edward J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Dick
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Owston
authors.forename: R Mark
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Sharp
authors.forename: Jane F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: VandeBerg
authors.forename: Robert E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Shade
authors.forename: John L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: VandeBerg
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002598:Chagas Cardiomyopathy / Q000469:parasitology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary; D018105:DNA, Kinetoplast / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000473:pathology; D008252:Macaca fascicularis; D008297:Male; D008992:Monkey Diseases / Q000469:parasitology; D009205:Myocarditis / Q000469:parasitology / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary; D048529:Papio hamadryas; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013781:Texas; D014349:Trypanosoma cruzi / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification
chemical_list: D018105:DNA, Kinetoplast