Persistent infections in chronic Chagas' disease patients treated with anti-Trypanosoma cruzi nitroderivatives

We used a molecular method and demonstrated that treatment of the chronic human Trypanosoma cruzi infections with nitroderivatives did not lead to parasitological cure. Seventeen treated and 17 untreated chronic Chagas' disease patients, with at least two out of three positive serologic assays...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Revista do Instituto de Medicina Tropical de São Paulo 2000-06, Vol.42 (3), p.157-161
Main Authors: Braga, M S, Lauria-Pires, L, Argañaraz, E R, Nascimento, R J, Teixeira, A R
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Benznidazole
Chagas Disease - blood
Chagas Disease - drug therapy
Chagas' disease
Chronic Disease
DNA Primers
Humans
Hybridization, Genetic
Male
Nifurtimox
Nifurtimox - therapeutic use
Nitroimidazoles - therapeutic use
Polymerase Chain Reaction - methods
Treatment
Treatment Outcome
TROPICAL MEDICINE
Trypanocidal Agents - therapeutic use
Trypanosoma cruzi
Trypanosoma cruzi - genetics
Trypanosoma cruzi - isolation & purification
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Summary:We used a molecular method and demonstrated that treatment of the chronic human Trypanosoma cruzi infections with nitroderivatives did not lead to parasitological cure. Seventeen treated and 17 untreated chronic Chagas' disease patients, with at least two out of three positive serologic assays for the infection, and 17 control subjects formed the study groups. PCR assays with nested sets of T. cruzi DNA primers monitored the efficacy of treatment. The amplification products were hybridized to their complementary internal sequences. Untreated and treated Chagas' disease patients yielded PCR amplification products with T. cruzi nuclear DNA primers. Competitive PCR was conducted to determine the quantity of parasites in the blood and revealed < 1 to 75 T. cruzi/ml in untreated (means 25.83+/-26.32) and < 1 to 36 T. cruzi/ml in treated (means 6.45+/-9.28) Chagas' disease patients. The difference between the means was not statistically significant. These findings reveal a need for precise definition of the role of treatment of chronic Chagas' disease patients with nitrofuran and nitroimidazole compounds.
ISSN:0036-4665
1678-9946
0036-4665
1678-9946
DOI:10.1590/S0036-46652000000300009