PMID: 9532826Jan 1, 1997Paper

Chagas disease. Serologic response to crude and semipurified T. cruzi antigens in different clinical groups of patients

Medicina
L CervettaE Moretti

Abstract

The immune response of people infected by the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi varies in indeterminate or chronic periods of infection, according to the course of the disease. Apparently, the antibody pattern is different in asymptomatic patients than in patients with cardio-myopathy. The study of those differences for clinical purposes depends on the availability of adequate antigenic preparations. We studied the behavior of crude and partially purified antigens of T. cruzi in acute and chronically infected patients. The level of total antibodies was measured by conventional serology (indirect immunofluorescence, IF, and indirect hemagglutination, HA) and the level of antibodies against different fractions of antigens obtained by analytical chroma-tofocusing, by using enzymatic immunoassay (ELISA). Chronic patients were classified according to Kuschnir et al. in: Group 0 (G0) or Group 1 (G1) according to the absence or presence of electrocardiographic alterations. In acute patients, conventional serology was negative in most cases. However, the ELISA performed with the soluble fraction of the lysate of parasites, showed positive results in 60% of patients. By classical serology, the behavior of chronic patients sera was di...Continue Reading