Type 1 Chemokine Receptor Expression in Chagas' Disease Correlates with Morbidity in Cardiac Patients

Immunological imbalance between IFN-³ and IL-10 levels in the sera of patients with the cardiac form of Chagas disease

“…Although the present results showed no differences between IL-10 and IFN-γ levels in CARD and IND patients, the IND patients displayed a positive correlation between inflammatory and regulatory cytokine production, indicating a controlled immune response. These findings are supported by the higher production of IFN-γ and TNF-α associated with high IL-10 levels described in IND patients, while CARD patients showed an unregulated Th1 response (Bahia-Oliveira et al 1998, Correa-Oliveira et al 1999, Ribeirao et al 2000, Abel et al 2001, Gomes et al 2005. A lack of co-regulation between inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines associated with severe disease was also demonstrated in human patients with leishmaniasis (Gaze et al 2006), strengthening this hypothesis.…”

Immunological and non-immunological effects of cytokines and chemokines in the pathogenesis of chronic Chagas disease cardiomyopathy

“…We were able to detect mononuclear cells that express CXCR3, CCR5, CXCL9 and CCL5 in the myocardium of CCC patients using confocal immunofluorescence assays (unpublished observations). These results are consistent with the hypothesis that circulating CCR5 + CXCR3 + CCR7 + Th1 inflammatory cells previously activated in the periphery via encounter with T. cruzi (Gomes et al 2005), interact with CCR7 ligands in high endothelial venules in inflamed myocardium -where they may interact with soluble ligands for CCR5 and CXCR3 receptors (our unpublished data) and migrate into tissue. Local IL-18 production may push these cells into producing increased levels of IFN-γ in a positive feedback loop.…”

Matrix Metalloproteinases 2 and 9 Are Differentially Expressed in Patients with Indeterminate and Cardiac Clinical Forms of Chagas Disease

“…Some previous studies showed that monocytes/macrophages and lymphocytes are able to secrete MMPs (27,28). Considering that monocytes/ macrophages and lymphocytes are important during T. cruzi infection and play a major role in driving distinct patterns of the immune response in the IND and CARD groups (29,30), we investigated the frequencies and cellular sources of MMP-2-and MMP-9-producing cells within the mononuclear leukocyte population. Our findings demonstrated that both CD4 ϩ and CD8 ϩ T cells from IND and CARD patients showed higher intracellular expression of MMP-2 than CD4 ϩ and CD8 ϩ T cells from NI individuals (P Ͻ 0.005) (Fig.…”