scholarly journals PCR monitoring of parasitemia during drug treatment for canine Chagas disease

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (5) ◽  
pp. 742-746
Author(s):  
Chih-Ling Zao ◽  
Ya-Chin Yang ◽  
Lisa Tomanek ◽  
Anthony Cooke ◽  
Ron Berger ◽  
...  

To date, there is no clear standard to monitor drug treatment for canine Chagas disease. We used 2 real-time PCR (rtPCR) assays targeting Trypanosoma cruzi kinetoplast DNA (kDNA) and nuclear satellite DNA (nDNA) to detect T. cruzi in canine whole blood. Samples were collected randomly from 131 untreated dogs with unknown T. cruzi infection status in Texas. The kDNA-based rtPCR was slightly more sensitive (diagnostic sensitivity of kDNA = 49% vs. nDNA = 44%; p = 0.5732) but slightly less specific (diagnostic specificity of kDNA = 96% vs. nDNA = 97%; p > 0.9999) than the nDNA-based rtPCR. However, the differences in sensitivity and specificity between the nDNA- and kDNA-based rtPCR assays were not statistically significant. Using the nDNA- and kDNA-based qualitative rtPCR assays to monitor parasitemia from 137 itraconazole- and amiodarone-treated cases with nDNA- and kDNA-based PCR–positive baselines showed that the PCR positive rate decreased to 0% in 30 d. Using kDNA-based quantitative rtPCR to monitor normalized T. cruzi DNA copies in 4 representative dogs demonstrated that drug treatment could reduce parasite loads within 7–30 d. The kDNA-based qualitative rtPCR may be used for routine parasitemia screening of drug-treated Chagas-positive dogs, whereas nDNA-based qualitative rtPCR may be used for confirmation.

2014 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. e2633 ◽  
Author(s):  
Koen De Winne ◽  
Philippe Büscher ◽  
Alejandro O. Luquetti ◽  
Suelene B. N. Tavares ◽  
Rodrigo A. Oliveira ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wanju Xu ◽  
Zhonghua Gong ◽  
Yan Yan ◽  
Shiyu Lv ◽  
Jiazheng Wang

Abstract Background: Whole blood or plasma samples are recommended for use in triple-marker testing of myocardial infarction. Whether serum sample can be used for the diagnosis of myocardial infarction has not been compared and validated.Methods: Whole blood samples and serum samples were detected with CTnI, Mb and CK-MB simultaneously by using immunofluorescence assay method.Results: Both CK-MB and TNI detection results were highly consistent for whole blood samples vs. serum samples. However, when Mb is tested, the positive rate of serum samples is relatively low, and there will be more false negative results, resulting in missed diagnosis.Conlusion: Serum samples cannot be used in replace of whole blood samples for triple-marker testing and diagnosis of myocardial infarction.


2010 ◽  
Vol 41 (02) ◽  
Author(s):  
N Shazi ◽  
A Böss ◽  
HJ Merkel ◽  
F Scharbert ◽  
D Hannak ◽  
...  

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (36) ◽  
pp. 6519-6543 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adriana Egui ◽  
Paola Lasso ◽  
Elena Pérez-Antón ◽  
M. Carmen Thomas ◽  
Manuel Carlos López

Chagas disease courses with different clinical phases and has a variable clinical presentation and progression. The acute infection phase mostly exhibits a non-specific symptomatology. In the absence of treatment, the acute phase is followed by a chronic phase, which is initially asymptomatic. This chronic asymptomatic phase of the disease is characterized by a fragile balance between the host’s immune response and the parasite replication. The loss of this balance is crucial for the progression of the sickness. The virulence and tropism of the T. cruzi infecting strain together to the inflammation processes in the cardiac tissue are the main factors for the establishment and severity of the cardiomyopathy. The efficacy of treatment in chronic Chagas disease patients is controversial. However, several studies carried out in chronic patients demonstrated that antiparasitic treatment reduces parasite load in the bloodstream and leads to an improvement in the immune response against the Trypanosoma cruzi parasite. The present review is mainly focused on the cellular patterns associated to the clinical status and the evolution of the disease in chronic patients, as well as the effectiveness of the treatment related to T. cruzi infection control. Therefore, an emphasis is placed on the dynamics of specific-antigens T cell subpopulations, their memory and activation phenotypes, their functionality and their contribution to pathogenesis or disease control, as well as their association with risk of congenital transmission of the parasite.


2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (8) ◽  
pp. 509-520
Author(s):  
Cauê B. Scarim ◽  
Chung M. Chin

Background: In recent years, there has been an improvement in the in vitro and in vivo methodology for the screening of anti-chagasic compounds. Millions of compounds can now have their activity evaluated (in large compound libraries) by means of high throughput in vitro screening assays. Objective: Current approaches to drug discovery for Chagas disease. Method: This review article examines the contribution of these methodological advances in medicinal chemistry in the last four years, focusing on Trypanosoma cruzi infection, obtained from the PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus databases. Results: Here, we have shown that the promise is increasing each year for more lead compounds for the development of a new drug against Chagas disease. Conclusion: There is increased optimism among those working with the objective to find new drug candidates for optimal treatments against Chagas disease.


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