Assessment of cross-reactive host-pathogen Antibodies in patients with different stages of chronic Chagas disease

VICCO M; FERINI F; RODELES L; CARDONA P; BONTEMPI I; LIOI S; BELOSCAR J; NARA T; MARCIPAR I; BOTTASSO O

REVISTA ESPAñOLA DE CARDIOLOGíA

EDICIONES DOYMA S A

Lugar: Barcelona; Año: 2013 vol. 66 p. 791 - 796

0300-8932

Background: Trypanosoma cruzi infection was shown to induce humoral autoimmune responses against different tissues. Particularly, antibodies cross-reacting with myocardial antigens may play a role in the development of the severe forms of Chronic Chagas Heart Disease (CCHD). In this work we performed a clinical assessment to determine the weight of the molecular mimicry promoting autoimmune antibody response in patients with chronic chagasic heart disease. Methods: We performed a cross-sectional study with T. cruzi seropositive patients categorized into three groups according to the CCHD classification provided by Storino et al. All individuals were subjected to a complete clinical examination and their sera were used to measure autoantibody levels. Results: All patients presented detectable levels of anti-p2β and anti-B13 autoantibodies; whereas none of them exhibited anti-Na-K-atpase antibodies. No association between electrocardiographic conduction disturbances and levels of autoantibodies was observed. Patients with CCHD stage III presented the highest levels of anti-B13 antibodies and high risk score of mortality, showing a clear association of that stage with the risk score of mortality. Conclusions: Anti-B13 antibodies were significantly higher in CCHD stage III patients, suggesting that these antibodies may be involved in the progression of the disease and that they might be used as a marker of poor prognosis in terms of heart compromise. Our results also reveal an important correlation between the level of anti-B13 autoantibodies and symptomatic heart failure and/or dilated cardiomyopathy.