RT Journal Article
T1 A Parasite Biomarker Set for Evaluating Benznidazole Treatment Efficacy in Patients with Chronic Asymptomatic Trypanosoma cruzi Infection.
A1 Egui, Adriana
A1 Thomas, M Carmen
A1 Fernández-Villegas, Ana
A1 Pérez-Antón, Elena
A1 Gómez, Inmaculada
A1 Carrilero, Bartolomé
A1 Del Pozo, Ángel
A1 Ceballos, Maialen
A1 Andrés-León, Eduardo
A1 López-Ruz, Miguel Ángel
A1 Gainza, Eusebio
A1 Oquiñena, Enrique
A1 Segovia, Manuel
A1 López, Manuel Carlos
K1 Chagas disease
K1 Trypanosoma cruzi
K1 antibodies
K1 benznidazole
K1 biomarkers
K1 cellular response
K1 cytokines
K1 cytotoxic molecules
K1 seroconversion
K1 therapeutic response
AB One of the current greatest challenges of Chagas disease is the establishment of biomarkers to assess the efficacy of drugs in a short period of time. In this context, the reactivity of sera from 66 adults with chronic indeterminate Chagas disease (IND) for a set of four Trypanosoma cruzi antigens (KMP11, PFR2, HSP70, and 3973d) was analyzed before and after benznidazole treatment. The results showed that the reactivity against these antigens decreased at 9, 24, and 48 months after treatment. Moreover, the 42.4% and 68.75% of IND patients met the established standard criteria of therapeutic efficacy (STEC) at 24 and 48 months posttreatment, respectively. Meeting the STEC implied that there was a continuous decrease in the reactivity of the patient sera against the four antigens after treatment and that there was a substantial decrease in the reactivity for at least two of the antigens. This important decrease in reactivity may be associated with a drastic reduction in the parasite load, but it is not necessarily associated with a parasitological cure. After treatment, a positive PCR result was only obtained in patients who did not meet the STEC. The percentage of granzyme B+/perforin+ CD8+ T cells was significantly higher in patients who met the STEC than in those who did not meet the STEC (35.2% versus 2.2%; P 
YR 2019
FD 2019-09-23
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10668/14331
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10668/14331
LA en
DS RISalud
RD Apr 12, 2025