Trypanosoma cruzi Virulence Factors for the Diagnosis of Chagas’ Disease

Abstract

trans-Sialidase and cruzipain are important virulence factors from Trypanosoma cruzi, the etiological agent of Chagas disease, that have highly antigenic domains in their structure and were reported as potential tools for diagnosis of the illness. The aim of the present study is to assess the possibility of using cruzipain and the catalytic domain of trans-sialidase in a Surface Plasmon Resonance-based immunosensor for the diagnosis of chronic Chagas disease. Immunoassays carried out with canine sera verified that cruzipain allows the detection of anti-Trypanosoma cruzi antibodies whereas recombinant trans-sialidase did not yield specific detections, due to the high dilutions of serum used in the immunoassays that hinder the possibility to sense the specific low titer antibodies. The developed cruzipain-based biosensor, whose price per assay is comparable to a commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), was successfully applied for the rapid quantification of specific antibodies against Trypanosoma cruzi in fresh human sera showing an excellent agreement with ELISA.

Synthesis and Antiprotozoal Profile of 3,4,5‐Trisubstituted Isoxazoles

“…This disease has infected over 20 million people in Central and South America and is responsible for around 20000 deaths per year. [ 3b , 4 ]…”

“…The current treatments for leishmaniasis and Chagas disease are based on outdated drugs with serious side effects, high cost, prolonged treatment period, and parasite resistance. [ 2 , 3 , 4 ] Thus, the development of new and safe drugs for NTDs is extremely important and urgent. Nevertheless, few governments and pharmaceutical companies have researched drug discovery for NTDs, making the progress even more difficult.…”

“…In addition, Chagas disease, caused by the vector‐borne flagellate protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi , is another NTD. This disease has infected over 20 million people in Central and South America and is responsible for around 20000 deaths per year [3b,4] …”

“…The current treatments for leishmaniasis and Chagas disease are based on outdated drugs with serious side effects, high cost, prolonged treatment period, and parasite resistance [2–4] . Thus, the development of new and safe drugs for NTDs is extremely important and urgent.…”

Antiparasitic Behavior of Trifluoromethylated Pyrazole 2-Amino-1,3,4-thiadiazole Hybrids and Their Analogues: Synthesis and Structure-Activity Relationship

“…Chagas disease has infected over 20 million people in Central and South America and is responsible for around 20,000 deaths per year. Current treatments for Chagas disease are based on two old drugs, benznidazole (BZN) and nifurtimox (NFX) (Goupil and McKerrow, 2014;Chain et al, 2019). They are more effective in the acute phase of the disease, show several side effects, and require prolonged treatment.…”