Biomarkers of therapeutic responses in chronic Chagas disease: state of the art and future perspectives
Mem. Inst. Oswaldo Cruz
;
110(3): 422-432, 05/2015. tab
Article
in English
| LILACS
| ID: lil-745981
ABSTRACT
The definition of a biomarker provided by the World Health Organization is any substance, structure, or process that can be measured in the body, or its products and influence, or predict the incidence or outcome of disease. Currently, the lack of prognosis and progression markers for chronic Chagas disease has posed limitations for testing new drugs to treat this neglected disease. Several molecules and techniques to detect biomarkers in Trypanosoma cruzi-infected patients have been proposed to assess whether specific treatment with benznidazole or nifurtimox is effective. Isolated proteins or protein groups from different T. cruzi stages and parasite-derived glycoproteins and synthetic neoglycoconjugates have been demonstrated to be useful for this purpose, as have nucleic acid amplification techniques. The amplification of T. cruzi DNA using the real-time polymerase chain reaction method is the leading test for assessing responses to treatment in a short period of time. Biochemical biomarkers have been tested early after specific treatment. Cytokines and surface markers represent promising molecules for the characterisation of host cellular responses, but need to be further assessed.
Full text:
Available
Index:
LILACS (Americas)
Main subject:
Trypanocidal Agents
/
Chagas Disease
/
Nitroimidazoles
Type of study:
Prognostic study
Limits:
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
Mem. Inst. Oswaldo Cruz
Journal subject:
Tropical Medicine
/
Parasitology
Year:
2015
Type:
Article
/
Project document
Affiliation country:
Spain
Institution/Affiliation country:
Barcelona Centre for International Health Research/ES
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