Cytokine profile levels and their relationship with parasitemia and cardiomyopathy in people with Chagas disease in Spain. A prospective observational study

Abstract

Immunoregulatory networks may have a role in controlling parasitemia in the chronic phase of human Chagas disease. The aim was to describe the serum cytokine profile of Trypanosoma cruzi in chronically infected patients and to evaluate its relationship with parasitemia and Chagas cardiomyopathy. This prospective observational study included adult patients with chronic Chagas disease. Demographic and clinical data were collected, and peripheral blood samples were used to perform T. cruzi real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and determine the serum cytokine profile. Fifty-eight patients were included; 17 (29.3%) had positive RT-PCR results. This group had a higher median concentration of TNF-α (p = 0.003), IL-6 (p = 0.021), IL-4 (p = 0.031), IL-1β (p = 0.036), and IL-17A (p = 0.043) than those with a negative RT-PCR. Patients with cardiac involvement had a higher median concentration of IL-5 (p = 0.016) than those without. These results reinforce the key role that cytokines play in Chagas disease patients with parasitemia and cardiac involvement.