ArticleEuropean journal of heart failure2015
Detection of Trypanosoma cruzi DNA in blood by PCR is associated with Chagas cardiomyopathy and disease severity.
Article in European journal of heart failure, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 31 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
31 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 62 citations in OpenAlex.
- SBC Guideline on the Diagnosis and Treatment of Patients with Cardiomyopathy of Chagas Disease - 2023.Arquivos brasileiros de cardiologia · 2023Guideline
- Risk Factors for Progression to Chronic Chagas Cardiomyopathy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2023Pooled it
- Association BetweenFrontiers in cardiovascular medicine · 2021Pooled it
- A SpecificFrontiers in immunology · 2020Trial
- Review
- Trypanosoma cruzi DTU parasite diversity and clinical outcomes in mesoregions of the Northeast Brazilian State of Pernambuco.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2026Article
- Parasitic diseases in heart transplantation: challenges of Toxoplasmosis and Chagas Disease.JHLT open · 2026Review
- Sex Differences in Chagas Cardiomyopathy: a Comprehensive Review.Current heart failure reports · 2025Review
- Cardiac and Digestive Forms of Chagas Disease: An Update on Pathogenesis, Genetics, and Therapeutic Targets.Mediators of inflammation · 2025Review
- Clinical features of Chagas disease progression and severity.Lancet regional health. Americas · 2024Review
- Increased Natural Killer (NK)-cell cytotoxicity and Trypanosoma cruzi-specific memory B cells in subjects with discordant serology for Chagas disease.Biochimica et biophysica acta. Molecular basis of disease · 2024Article
- Quantitative PCR as a marker for preemptive therapy and its role in therapeutic control in Trypanosoma cruzi/HIV coinfection.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2024Article
- Usefulness of polymerase chain reaction tests in Chagas disease studies.Frontiers in parasitology · 2024Article
- Parasite DNA and Markers of Decreased Immune Activation Associate Prospectively with Cardiac Functional Decline over 10 Years amongInternational journal of molecular sciences · 2023Article
- Assessment of biomarkers and clinical parameters as predictors of survival in patients with chagasic heart failure.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2023Article
- Predictors of Trypanosoma cruzi PCR positivity in patients with chronic Chagas disease.Memorias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz · 2023Observational
- Parasitemia and antibody response to benznidazole treatment in a cohort of patients with chronic Chagas disease.Frontiers in parasitology · 2023Article
- Chagasic cardiomyopathy is marked by a unique signature of activated CD4Journal of translational medicine · 2022Article
- Human Trypanosoma cruzi chronic infection leads to individual level steady-state parasitemia: Implications for drug-trial optimization in Chagas disease.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2022Article
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20 authors at 10 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe significance of detection of Trypanosoma cruzi DNA in blood of antibody-positive patients for risk of development of Chagas heart disease is not well established. The objective of this study was to compare detection of T. cruzi DNA with known clinical and laboratory markers of Chagas cardiomyopathy (CC) severity.
methodsThis is a case-control study nested within a retrospective cohort developed in Brazil to understand the natural history of Chagas disease. The study enrolled 499 T. cruzi seropositive blood donors (SP-BD) and 488 frequency matched seronegative control donors (SN-BD) who had donated between 1996 and 2002, and 101 patients with clinically diagnosed CC. In 2008-2010 all enrolled subjects underwent a health questionnaire, medical examination, electrocardiograms and echocardiograms and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analyses. A blinded panel of three cardiologists adjudicated the outcome of CC. Trypanosoma cruzi kinetoplast minicircle sequences were amplified by real-time PCR using an assay with a sensitivity of one parasite per 20 mL of blood. All testing was performed on coded samples.
resultsRates of PCR detection of T. cruzi DNA were significantly (P = 0.003) higher in CC patients and SP-BD diagnosed with CC (79/105 [75.2 %]) compared with SP-BD without CC (143/279 [51.3%]). The presence of parasitaemia was significantly associated with known markers of disease progression such as QRS and QT interval duration, lower left ventricular ejection fraction, higher left ventricular index mass, and elevated troponin and NTpro-BNP levels.
conclusionTrypanosoma cruzi PCR positivity is associated with presence and severity of cardiomyopathy, suggesting a direct role of parasite persistence in disease pathogenesis.
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