Serum IL-10 Levels and Its Relationship with Parasitemia in Chronic Chagas Disease Patients

Abstract

It is known that the immunoregulatory networks in human Chagas disease play a key role in parasitemia control during the acute phase. However, little is known regarding the control of parasitemia during the chronic phase. The aim of the study was to describe the serum cytokine profile of Trypanosoma cruzi chronically infected patients and to evaluate its relationship with the presence or absence of parasitemia in peripheral blood. This is a prospective observational study where adult Chagas disease patients were included. Patients previously treated for Chagas disease, pregnant women, and immunosuppressed patients were excluded. Demographic and clinical information was collected, and T. cruzi real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and serum cytokine profile were determined in peripheral blood. Forty-five patients were included. Trypanosoma cruzi RT-PCR in peripheral blood resulted positive in 19 (42.2%) patients. No differences in the serum cytokine profile were found depending on cardiac or digestive involvement. However, patients with positive T. cruzi RT-PCR had a higher median concentration of IL-10 and IL-1beta and a lower median concentration of IL-8 than those with negative T. cruzi PCR. These results reinforce the key role that this antiinflammatory cytokine (IL-10) plays in parasitemia control.

Trypanosoma cruzi Induces Regulatory B Cell Alterations in Patients With Chronic Chagas Disease

“…In both the acute and chronic phases of the disease, T. cruzi induces an increase of IL-10 as part of its escape mechanism, which makes it difficult to interpret whether the secretion of this cytokine is a cause or a consequence of parasitemia in patients (Flavia Nardy et al, 2015;Cardoso et al, 2016). A recent study showed a positive relationship between the IL-10 levels in sera of CCD patients with detectable parasitemia (PCR + ) (Salvador et al, 2020). However, in our cohort of patients, we did not find an association between parasitemia and the frequency of B10 cells or IL-10 secretion levels in B cell culture supernatants, suggesting that other cell types are the source of IL-10 in chronic T. cruzi infection.…”

Association Between Trypanosoma cruzi DNA in Peripheral Blood and Chronic Chagasic Cardiomyopathy: A Systematic Review

“…Finally, we included 12 studies comprising 1,686 patients (12,(35)(36)(37)(38)(39)(40)(41)(42)(43)(44)(45), which are described in Table 1. Eight studies were cross-sectional studies, 3 were designed as prospective cohorts, and 1 was a case-control study.…”

“…All studies used a single venous blood sample for PCR determination. Six studies (50%) used a conventional PCR method (35)(36)(37)(38)(39)41) while the other half used real-time PCR method (12,40,(42)(43)(44)(45). Only four studies used a quantitative method to report PCR results (12,(40)(41)(42) while the rest of the studies used a qualitative method.…”

“…Most studies (8/12; 66.3% used a real time PCR method based on the amplification of a genomic DNA sequence of the Kinetoplast. In the other 4 studies, satellite DNA amplification was used (42)(43)(44)(45). Parasite detection in patients with ICD ranged from 7.4 (35) to 100% (43).…”

“…None of the non-endemic studies identified an association between parasite DNA detection in peripheral blood and CCC. Six studies reported greater positive PCR ratios among patients with CCC than in patients with ICD although differences did not achieve statistical significance (36,37,41,42,44,45). The remaining 4 studies reported a positive PCR rate that favored patients with ICD (38)(39)(40)43).…”