title: Detection of Trypanosoma cruzi by Polymerase Chain Reaction.
abstract: American Trypanosomiasis (Chagas disease) is an infectious disease caused by the hemoflagellate parasite Trypanosoma cruzi which is transmitted by reduviid bugs. T. cruzi infection occurs in a broad spectrum of reservoir animals throughout North, Central, and South America and usually evolves into an asymptomatic chronic clinical stage of the disease in which diagnosis is often challenging. This chapter describes the application of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for the detection of Trypanosoma cruzi DNA including protocols for sample preparation, DNA extraction, and target amplification methods.
authors: Laboratorio de Enzimología de Parásitos, Universidad de Los Andes, Mérida, Venezuela. emarquez@ula.ve.
authors: María Elizabeth
authors: ME
authors: Márquez
authors: Laboratorio de Enzimología de Parásitos, Universidad de Los Andes, Mérida, Venezuela. concepci@ula.ve.
authors: Juan Luis
authors: JL
authors: Concepción
authors: Laboratorio de Enzimología de Parásitos, Universidad de Los Andes, Mérida, Venezuela. eglys.gonzalez@gmail.com.|Fundación Jacinto Convit, Caracas, Venezuela. eglys.gonzalez@gmail.com.
authors: Eglys
authors: E
authors: González-Marcano
authors: Microbiology Laboratory, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine/Yale New Haven Hospital, New Haven, CT, USA. albertopaniz@yahoo.com.|Department of Hematopathology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA. albertopaniz@yahoo.com.
authors: Alberto Paniz
authors: AP
authors: Mondolfi
mesh_terms: D014355:Chagas Disease / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000469:parasitology*; D016054:DNA, Protozoan / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D017125:Genes, Protozoan; D020459:Genes, rRNA; D006801:Humans; D021141:Nucleic Acid Amplification Techniques; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D014349:Trypanosoma cruzi / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D016054:DNA, Protozoan
keywords: Chagas; Diagnosis; PCR; Trypanosoma cruzi