Interleukin-10 and tumour necrosis factor-alpha serum levels in chronic Chagas disease patients.
In Chagas disease, chronically infected individuals may be asymptomatic or may present cardiac or digestive complications, and it is well known that the human immune response is related to different clinical manifestations. Different patterns of cytokine levels have been previously described in different clinical forms of this disease, but contradictory results are reported. Our aim was to evaluate the serum levels of interleukin-10 and tumour necrosis factor-alpha in patients with asymptomatic and cardiac Chagas disease. The serum interleukin-10 levels in patients with cardiomyopathy were higher than those in asymptomatic patients, mainly in those without heart enlargement. Although no significant difference was observed in serum tumour necrosis factor-alpha levels among the patients, we found that cardiac patients also present high levels of this cytokine, largely those with heart dilatation. Therefore, these cytokines play an important role in chronic Chagas disease cardiomyopathy. Follow-up investigations of these and other cytokines in patients with chronic Chagas disease need to be conducted to improve the understanding of the immunopathology of this disease.
Departamento de Imunologia, Centro de Pesquisas Aggeu Magalhães, Pernambuco, Brazil.
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Vasconcelos
Departamento de Imunologia, Centro de Pesquisas Aggeu Magalhães, Pernambuco, Brazil.
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Ede A
Azevedo
Departamento de Saúde Coletiva, Centro de Pesquisas Aggeu Magalhães, Pernambuco, Brazil.
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Diniz
Ambulatório de Doença de Chagas e Insuficiência Cardíaca - PROCAPE, Universidade de Pernambuco, Pernambuco, Brazil.
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Cavalcanti
Ambulatório de Doença de Chagas e Insuficiência Cardíaca - PROCAPE, Universidade de Pernambuco, Pernambuco, Brazil.
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de Oliveira
Departamento de Imunologia, Centro de Pesquisas Aggeu Magalhães, Pernambuco, Brazil.
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de Morais
Departamento de Imunologia, Centro de Pesquisas Aggeu Magalhães, Pernambuco, Brazil.|Programa Integrado de Doença de Chagas, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
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Yde M
Gomes
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002598:Chagas Cardiomyopathy / Q000097:blood* / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D002908:Chronic Disease; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016753:Interleukin-10 / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000097:blood*
C508609:IL10 protein, human; C439524:TNF protein, human; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D016753:Interleukin-10
Chagas disease; interleukin-10; tumour necrosis factor-alpha