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Comparison of Trypanosoma cruzi Lineages and Levels of Parasitic DNA in Infected Mothers and Their Newborns

To better understand the factors involved in maternal–fetal transmission of Trypanosoma cruzi, we compared DNA levels—obtained by use of quantitative real-time PCR and parasitic genotypes determined by PCR amplification followed by hybridization—in Bolivian mothers and their congenitally infected newborns. Mothers and their neonates displayed markedly different parasitic DNA levels, as most maternal estimated parasitemias (> 90%) were < 10 parasites/mL, whereas those of 76% of their newborns were > 1,000 parasites/mL. Comparison of T. cruzi TcII sublineages infecting mothers and newborns showed identity, without evidence of mixed infection in mothers or neonates. Analysis of minor variants of TcIId-genotyped parasites using sequence class probes hybridizing with hypervariable domains of kDNA minicircles showed discrepancies in half of mother/newborn pairs.

Received February 21, 2007. Accepted for publication April 18, 2007.

Acknowledgments: The authors thank Dolores Rangel and Nelly Aguado (Hospital Universitario San Juan de Dios and Laboratorio de Epidemiologia—SEDES, Tarija, Bolivia). M. Virreira is a recipient of a "Xénophilia" grant (ULB, Belgium). C. Alonso-Vega is fellow of the "Association pour la Promotion de l’Éducation et la Formation à l’Étranger" (APEFE, "Communauté Française de Belgique").

Financial support: This study was supported by the Conseil Interuniversitaire de la Communauté Française de Belgique (CIUF) and the Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifique Médicale (Belgium, conventions 3.4.595.99/3.4.615.05).

^* Address correspondence to Michal Svoboda, Laboratoire de Chimie Biologique, Faculté de Médecine, U.L.B., 808 Route de Lennik CP 611, B-1070 Bruxelles, Belgium. E-mail: msvobod{at}ulb.ac.be

Authors’ addresses: Myrna Virreira and Michal Svoboda, Laboratoire de Chimie Biologique, Faculté de Médecine, Université Libre de Bruxelles (U.L.B.), Brussels, Belgium, Telephone: +32 2 555 62 25, Fax: +32 2 555 62 30, E-mail: msvobod{at}ulb.ac.be. Carine Truyens and Yves Carlier, Laboratoire de Parasitologie, Faculté de Médecine, Université Libre de Bruxelles (U.L.B.), Brussels, Belgium. Cristina Alonso-Vega and Faustino Torrico, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Mayor de San Simon (U.M.S.S.), Cochabamba, Bolivia. Laurent Brutus, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD, France), Mother and Child Health Research Unit (UR010), La Paz, Bolivia. Juan Jijena, Unidad de Neonatologia, Hospital Universitario "San Juan de Dios," Tarija, Bolivia.

Reprint requests: Michal Svoboda, Laboratoire de Chimie Biologique, Faculté de Médecine, U.L.B., 808 Route de Lennik CP 611, B-1070 Bruxelles, Belgium. E-mail: msvobod{at}ulb.ac.be.