Pathogenesis of Chagas disease: time to move on

Machado, Fabiana S., Tyler, Kevin M. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0647-8158, Brant, Fatima, Esper, Lisia, Teixeira, Mauro M. and Tanowitz, Herbert B. (2012) Pathogenesis of Chagas disease: time to move on. Frontiers in Biosciences-Elite, 4 (5). pp. 1743-1758.

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Abstract

Trypanosoma cruzi is the etiologic agent of Chagas disease. The contributions of parasite and immune system for disease pathogenesis remain unresolved and controversial. The possibility that Chagas disease was an autoimmune progression triggered by T. cruzi infection led some to question the benefit of treating chronically T. cruzi-infected persons with drugs. Furthermore, it provided the rationale for not investing in research aimed at a vaccine which might carry a risk of inducing autoimmunity or exacerbating inflammation. This viewpoint was adopted by cash-strapped health systems in the developing economies where the disease is endemic and has been repeatedly challenged by researchers and clinicians in recent years and there is now a considerable body of evidence and broad consensus that parasite persistence is requisite for pathogenesis and that antiparasitic immunity can be protective against T. cruzi pathogenesis without eliciting autoimmune pathology. Thus, treatment of chronically infected patients is likely to yield positive outcomes and efforts to understand immunity and vaccine development should be recognized as a priority area of research for Chagas disease.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: sdg 3 - good health and well-being ,/dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/good_health_and_well_being
Faculty \ School: Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Norwich Medical School
UEA Research Groups: Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Groups > Gastroenterology and Gut Biology
Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Centres > Metabolic Health
Depositing User: Users 2731 not found.
Date Deposited: 04 Feb 2012 18:42
Last Modified: 19 Oct 2023 00:26
URI: https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/36850
DOI: 10.2741/e495

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