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Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg., 68(6), 2003, pp. 683-691
Copyright © 2003 by The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

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Right arrow Chagas Disease

CHRONIC CHAGAS’ DISEASE IN RHESUS MONKEYS (MACACA MULATTA): EVALUATION OF PARASITEMIA, SEROLOGY, ELECTROCARDIOGRAPHY, ECHOCARDIOGRAPHY, AND RADIOLOGY

CRISTIANO MARCELO ESPINOLA CARVALHO, MÁRCIA CRISTINA RIBEIRO ANDRADE, SÉRGIO SALLES XAVIER, REGINA HELENA RICCIOPPO MANGIA, CONSTANÇA CARVALHO BRITTO, ANA MARIA JANSEN, OCTAVIO FERNANDES, JOSELI LANNES-VIEIRA, AND MARIA DA GLÓRIA BONECINI-ALMEIDA
Departamento de Microbiologia, Imunologia e Parasitologia, Departamento de Especialidades Médicas, Instituto de Pesquisa Clínica Evandro Chagas, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Departamento de Primatologia, Centro de Criação de Animais de Laboratório, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Departamento de Imunologia, Departamento de Protozoologia, Departamento de Medicina Tropical, e Departamento de Bioquímica e Biologia Molecular, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Severe chronic damage to the heart and gastrointestinal tract in patients with Chagas’ disease are often observed 10–20 years after the acute phase. The course of long-lasting infection with the Colombian strain of Trypanosoma cruzi was studied in seven rhesus monkeys infected for 15–19 years. Subpatent parasitemia was detected in all studied animals, using hemoculture (two of seven), artificial xenodiagnosis (three of seven), and a polymerase chain reaction PCR (six of six). High titers of specific IgG antibody to T. cruzi persisted throughout the chronic phase of infection. Abnormal electrocardiographic (three of six) and echocardiographic (one of six) patterns detected in the T. cruzi-infected monkeys were possibly related to parasite-triggered myocardial damage. The results suggest that rhesus monkeys experimentally infected with T. cruzi, besides reproducing the acute phase of Chagas’ disease, also develop chronic chagasic cardiomyopathy.

Received August 7, 2002. Accepted for publication February 5, 2003.

Acknowledgments: We are grateful to Maria Celeste Dias Spata for excellent technical assistance, and to Carlos José Carvalho Moreira for providing Triatoma infestans and Panstrongylus megistus. We thank Cristiane V. Lisboa for helping with the hemoculture preparation and analysis, and Dr. Eleonora Carregal for excellent assistance in the radiologic analysis. We are also indebted to Dr. John L. Van-deBerg for critically reading the manuscript.

Financial support: This work was supported by grants from Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (Programa de Apoio á Pesquisa Estratégica em Saúde-2), and Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq 131701/00-2). Cristiano Marcelo Espinola Carvalho, Joseli Lannes-Vieira, and Maria da Glória Bonecini-Almeida are fellows of CNPq.

Authors’ addresses: Cristiano Marcelo Espinola Carvalho and Maria da Glória Bonecini-Almeida, Laboratório de Imunologia, Departamento de Microbiologia, Imunologia e Parasitologia, Instituto de Pesquisa Clínica Evandro Chagas, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Avenida Brasil 4365, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil, 21045-900, Telephone: 55-21-2598-4266, Fax: 55-21-2590-9988, E-mail: bonecini{at}ipec.fiocruz.br. Márcia Cristina Ribeiro de Andrade, Departamento de Primatologia, Centro de Criação de Animais de Laboratório, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Avenida Brasil 4365, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil, 21045-900, Telephone: 55-21-2598-4388, Fax: 55-21-259-02434. Sérgio Salles Xavier, Departamento de Especialidades Médicas, Instituto de Pesquisa Clínica Evandro Chagas, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Avenida Brasil 4365, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil, Telephone: 55-21-2598-4266, Fax: 55-21-2590-9988. Regina Helena Riccioppo Mangia and Octavio Fernandes, Departamento de Medicina Tropical, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Avenida Brasil 4365, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil, 21045-900, Telephone: 55-21-2598-4338, Fax: 55-21-2280-3740. Constança Britto, Departamento de Bioquímica e Biologia Molecular, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Avenida Brasil 4365, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil, 21045-900, Telephone: 55-21-2598-4548, Fax: 55-21-2590-3495. Ana Maria Jansen, Departamento de Protozoologia, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Avenida Brasil 4365, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil, 21045-900, Telephone: 55-21-2598-4324, Fax: 55-21-2590-3545. Joseli Lannes-Vieira, Departamento de Imunologia, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Avenida Brasil 4365, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil, 21045-900, Telephone: 55-21-2598-4428, Fax: 55-21-2280-1589.






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