Trypanosoma cruzi-Specific T-Cell Responses to Monitor Treatment Efficacy in Chronic Chagas Disease

ALBAREDA, MARÍA CECILIA; NATALE, MARÍA AILÉN; CESAR, GONZALO LEANDRO; CASTRO EIRO, MELISA DAIANA; ALVAREZ, MARÍA GABRIELA; LAUCELLA, SUSANA ADRIANA

METHODS IN MOLECULAR BIOLOGY (CLIFTON, N.J.)

Springer

Año: 2019 vol. 1955 p. 339 - 348

1064-3745

Chagas disease is the highest impact parasitic disease in Latin America. In recent years, the use of immune-related biomarkers to predict diagnostic and treatment efficacy or to monitor diseases has been considered a promising tool. Our group has worked for the past 20 years on the characterization of different immunological aspects of the T-cell responses to T. cruzi antigens. We have shown that monitoring of appropriate immunological responses can provide earlier and robust measures of treatment.The Enzyme-Linked ImmunoSPOT (ELISPOT) assays are powerful tools to evaluate antigen-specific immune responses at the single-cell level. Herein, we describe uses of the ELISPOT assay to determine the T. cruzi-specific T-cell populations in PBMCs from chronic chagasic subjects.