Marcadores inmunológicos en la enfermedad de Chagas

Infection of humans with the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi leads to Chagas disease, an illness that affects more than 17 million people in South and Central America for which no effective drugs or vaccines are available. Several experimental infection systems have led to determine the nature of the immune response required for the T. cruzi infection control. Thus, the cellular response mediated by cytotoxic CD8+ T cells secreting INF-γ has shown to be highly relevant in the control of the disease. Moreover, it has been described that there is a higher level of CD86 and CD40 co-stimulatory molecules and expression of IL12 and TNF-α cytokines by APCs in resistant than in susceptible mice after T. cruzi experimental infection. However, in the case of chagasic patients there are only few immunological data supporting an association between immune responses and a defined clinical status. Thus, the identification and characterization of immunological markers of progression and of the severity of the Chagas disease is considered to be essential. We have described that 17% of the analyzed chagasic patients had IFN-γ secreting CD8+ T cells that were able to respond to K1 peptide from T. cruzi KMP11 with a relative high frequency.