Studies of membrane fluidity and heart contractile force in Trypanosoma cruzi infected mice

Mitochondrial involvement in chronic chagasic cardiomyopathy

The pathogenesis of chronic chagasic cardiopathy is still under discussion; there is considerable evidence that inflammatory infiltrates and their mediators have a direct effect on cardiac cells. Here we studied the structure and function of cardiac mitochondria in chronic chagasic myocardiopathy. Cardiac mitochondrial structure and enzyme activity of citrate synthase and complexes I to IV of the respiratory chain were studied in albino Swiss mice infected with Trypanosoma cruzi (Tulahuen strain or SGO Z12 isolate) on 365 days post-infection (dpi). The presence of parasites in cardiac and skeletal muscle was also investigated. The activity of complexes I to IV was altered in different ways, according to the strain employed (P<0.0001), in relation to the cristae disorganisation and the parasite persistence found in the Tulahuen group, and the chronic inflammatory process described in both groups; citrate synthase activity also increased in both infected groups. Changes in mitochondrial structure were detected in 89% of Tulahuen- and 58% of SGO Z12-infected mice. In this paper we demonstrate that parasite persistence and inflammation are likely to be involved in the structural and functional alterations in cardiac mitochondria from chronically T. cruzi-infected mice, demonstrating that the parasite strain determines different mitochondrial changes in chagasic cardiopathy.

Perioperative management of a patient with Chagas disease having mitral valve surgery

A patient with advanced Chagas disease presented with symptoms attributable to dilated cardiomyopathy and mitral regurgitation. Although esophageal involvement is part of the constellation of findings in Chagas, transesophageal echocardiography was safely used to guide the mitral valve surgery.

Some components of the cardiac β-adrenergic system are altered in the chronic indeterminate form of experimental Trypanosoma cruzi infection

The chronic indeterminate form of Trypanosoma cruzi infection could be the key to knowing which patients will develop chagasic myocardiopathy. Infected mice present a period in which cardiac functional and structural alterations are different from those described for acute or chronic phases. We studied some components of the cardiac β-adrenergic system in mouse hearts infected with T. cruzi Tulahuen strain or SGO-Z12 isolate during the chronic indeterminate phase of infection. We determined: (i) the primary messenger (epinephrine and norepinephrine) levels in plasma by reverse-phase-HPLC; (ii) the cardiac β-adrenergic receptors' (β-AR) density and affinity by binding with tritiated dihidroalprenolol and by immunofluorescence; (iii) the cardiac concentration of the second messenger (cAMP) (by ELISA) given its importance for the phosphorylation of the proteins involved in cardiac contraction; (iv) the cardiac contractility and functional studies of the β-ARs as a response to the ligand binding to the receptor; and (v) the left ventricular ejection fraction as a measure of in vivo cardiac function. Plasma catecholamines levels remained similar to those found in uninfected controls. The β-ARs' affinity decreased in both infected groups compared with the uninfected group (P<0.05) while the receptors' density increased only in the SGO-Z12 group (P<0.01). Cyclic AMP levels were higher in both infected groups (P<0.01) relative to controls, and were higher in SGO-Z12-infected mice compared with those infected with the Tulahuen strain. However, the basal contractile force remained unchanged and the response to catecholamines only increased in the Tulahuen group (P<0.05). The left ventricular ejection fraction, on the other hand, was diminished in SGO-Z12-infected mice. Heterogeneity between T. cruzi strains determine, in the chronic indeterminate form, alterations in the signaling pathways of the β-adrenergic system at different levels: (i) between catecholamines and the β(1)-receptors; (ii) between the receptors' activation and the adenylyl-cyclase activation; and/or (iii) between cAMP and the contractile response.

Changes in the cardiac beta-adrenergic system provoked by different T. cruzi strains

BACKGROUND

It has been demonstrated that the beta-adrenergic signal transduction system is altered somewhere along its pathway in Trypanosoma cruzi infected hearts and we think that these alterations would differ according to the infection phase and the parasite strain. Their study would be important for the understanding of the disease's pathophysiology.

METHODS

In the present work we studied important components of this system in mice hearts infected with T. cruzi, Tulahuen strain and with SGO-Z12 isolate, obtained from a patient of an endemic area, in the acute phase of the infection, determining: the plasma catecholamines levels, the beta-receptors density and affinity as well as their function, the cardiac concentration of cAMP and the cardiac contractility as the physiologic response to the initial stimulus.

RESULTS

Plasma catecholamines levels were diminished in both infected groups when compared to the uninfected one (P < 0.01). The receptor's affinity was also diminished (P < 0.05) while their density was augmented only in the SGO-Z12 infected one (P < 0.01). The cAMP levels were higher in both infected groups (P < 0.01), the basal contractile force however increased only in the Tulahuen infected one (P < 0.01) while the response to catecholamines remained unchanged. The hearts infected with the SGO Z12 isolate presented an inferior response to epinephrine (P < 0.05) than the ventricles infected with the Tulahuen strain.

CONCLUSIONS

This model represents an important approach to understand the biochemical, physiological and molecular changes in the cardiac beta-adrenergic signalling that clearly begin in the acute phase of Chagas' disease and reveal a clear differentiation in the alterations produced by different parasite strains.