title: The potential influence of atherogenic dyslipidemia on the severity of chronic Chagas heart disease.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  chronic Chagas heart disease (CCHD) is the most common manifestation of American Trypanosomiasis, causing about 50,000 deaths annually. Several factors bear correlation with the severity of CCHD. However, to our knowledge, the assessment on the contribution of major cardiovascular risk factors (CRF), such as hypertension and atherogenic dyslipidemia (AD) to CCHD severity is scarce, despite their well-established role in coronary artery disease, heart failure and stroke.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  to explore the potential relationship of blood pressure and AD with the clinical profile of patients with CCHD.
  
  
  METHODS
  we performed a cross-sectional study in T. cruziseropositive patients categorized according to a standard CCHD classification. All individuals were subjected to complete clinical examination. Autoantibodies induced by T. cruzi were assessed by ELISA.
  
  
  RESULTS
  we observed that Atherogenic index (AI) levels rose significantly in relation to the severity of the CCHD stage, with CCHD III cases showing the highest values of AI. Furthermore, those patients with globally dilated cardiomyopathy with reduced ejection fraction showed higher levels of AI. In regard to autoantibodies, anti-B13 also showed relation with the severity of the disease.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  we observed that AI correlated with CCHD stages and contributed, in association with anti-B13 antibodies and age, to the prediction of systolic heart failure.
authors.affiliation: Immunological Technology Laboratory, School of Biochemistry and Biological Sciences, Universidad Nacional del Litoral, Santa Fe, Argentina.
authors.forename: Luz
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Peverengo
authors.affiliation: Internal Medicine Division, School of Medical Sciences, Universidad Nacional del Litoral, Santa Fe, Argentina.
authors.forename: Luz
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rodeles
authors.affiliation: Internal Medicine Division, School of Medical Sciences, Universidad Nacional del Litoral, Santa Fe, Argentina.
authors.forename: Miguel Hernan
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Vicco
authors.affiliation: Immunological Technology Laboratory, School of Biochemistry and Biological Sciences, Universidad Nacional del Litoral, Santa Fe, Argentina.
authors.forename: Iván
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Marcipar
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D050197:Atherosclerosis / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology*; D002598:Chagas Cardiomyopathy / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D050171:Dyslipidemias / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012016:Reference Values; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric