Evaluation of Four Biomarkers in Patients Chronically Infected with Trypanosoma cruzi and Their Relationship with Disease Progression.

This study evaluated four biomarkers of inflammation or fibrosis as progression indicators for heart disease in patients with Chagas disease. We compared values of these markers at the time of the first sample collection of blood (first time point) and at the time of the last collection of blood (second time point) for 103 individuals positive for Trypanosoma cruzi antibodies. They were split into two clinical groups: 52 individuals with the indeterminate form of the disease at the first time point and 51 controls that already had either cardiac involvement (N = 25) or megaviscera (megaesophagus and/or megacolon; N = 26) at that time.

The distribution and chemical coding of enteroendocrine cells in Trypanosoma cruzi-infected individuals with chagasic megacolon.

Chagas disease is caused by the parasite, Trypanosoma cruzi that causes chronic cardiac and digestive dysfunction. Megacolon, an irreversible dilation of the left colon, is the main feature of the gastrointestinal form of Chagas disease. Patients have severe constipation, a consequence of enteric neuron degeneration associated with chronic inflammation.

Hot Topics in Surgical Management of Acute Diverticulitiss.

In this session different issues for the surgical management of diverticular disease DD) were considered. The first session debated about the antibiotic treatment for acute uncomplicated diverticulitis (AUD), and supports their use selectively rather than routinely in patients with AUD. The second session discussed the best surgical treatment for those patients.

Clinical findings in congenital infection by Zika virus: a retrospective study in a reference hospital in Central-West Brazil.

Background: An increased number of congenital Zika virus infections with neurological and musculoskeletal malformations have been diagnosed worldwide, however, there are still several gaps in the knowledge about this infection, its associated mechanism, timing of transmission, and description of throughout findings of signs and symptoms, which is described in this paper. The purpose of this study is to describe aspects of congenital Zika syndrome (CZS) beyond the central nervous system comprising detailed delineation of all the other clinical findings.

Methods: A retrospective research developed using electronic medical records.

5-HT serotonin receptor in the gastrointestinal tract: the link between immune system and enteric nervous system in the digestive form of Chagas disease.

Chagas disease is caused by Trypanosoma cruzi and remains one of the most neglected diseases in Latin America. One of its clinical forms is Chagas megacolon. Despite being known for more than half a century, detailed causes are still obscure.

Mast Cells and Serotonin Synthesis Modulate Chagas Disease in the Colon: Clinical and Experimental Evidence.

Background: Trypanosoma cruzi (T. cruzi) infects millions of Latin Americans each year and can induce chagasic megacolon. Little is known about how serotonin (5-HT) modulates this condition.

Mast cell-nerve interaction in the colon of Trypanosoma cruzi-infected individuals with chagasic megacolon.

Chagas disease is an infection caused by the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi that affects millions of people worldwide and is endemic in Latin America. Megacolon is the most frequent complication of the digestive chronic form and happens due to lesions of the enteric nervous system. The neuronal lesions seem to initiate in the acute phase and persist during the chronic phase, albeit the mechanisms involved in this process are still debated.

Stage effect of chronic kidney disease in erectile function.

Purpose: The study aims to assess the influence of the stage of chronic kidney disease and glomerular filtration rate on prevalence and degree of erectile dysfunction.

Materials And Methods: This transversal study, conducted from May 2013 to December 2015, included patients with chronic kidney disease in conservative treatment, stages III/IV/V. Erectile dysfunction was evaluated by the International Index of Erectile Function.

Epithelial cell types and their proposed roles in maintaining the mucosal barrier in human chagasic-megacolonic mucosa.

Patients suffering from chagasic megacolon must have an intact mucosal barrier as they survive this chronic disease for decades. A key structure of the mucosal barrier are epithelial cells. Vasoactive-intestinal-peptide (VIP)-positive nerve fibres are involved in influencing, e.

Analysis of enteroendocrine cell populations in the human colon.

Recent studies have shown that patterns of colocalisation of hormones in enteroendocrine cells are more complex than previously appreciated and that the patterns differ substantially between species. In this study, the human sigmoid colon is investigated by immunohistochemistry for the presence of gastrointestinal hormones and their colocalisation. The segments of colon were distant from the pathology that led to colectomy and appeared structurally normal.

Congenital transmission of Trypanosoma cruzi in central Brazil. A study of 1,211 individuals born to infected mothers.

Transmission of Trypanosoma cruzi during pregnancy is estimated to occur in less than 20% of infected mothers; however, the etiopathogenesis is not completely understood. The Centre for Studies on Chagas Disease provides confirmation of T. cruzi infection for individuals living in central Brazil.

Trypanosomiasis-induced megacolon illustrates how myenteric neurons modulate the risk for colon cancer in rats and humans.

Background: Trypanosomiasis induces a remarkable myenteric neuronal degeneration leading to megacolon. Very little is known about the risk for colon cancer in chagasic megacolon patients. To clarify whether chagasic megacolon impacts on colon carcinogenesis, we investigated the risk for colon cancer in Trypanosoma cruzi (T.

Mast cells in the colon of Trypanosoma cruzi-infected patients: are they involved in the recruitment, survival and/or activation of eosinophils?

Megacolon is frequently observed in patients who develop the digestive form of Chagas disease. It is characterized by dilation of the rectum-sigmoid portion and thickening of the colon wall. Microscopically, the affected organ presents denervation, which has been considered as consequence of an inflammatory process that begins at the acute phase and persists in the chronic phase of infection.

Chagasic megacolon: enteric neurons and related structures.

Megacolon, the irreversible dilation of a colonic segment, is a structural sign associated with various gastrointestinal disorders. In its hereditary, secondary form (e.g.

Mucosal layers and related nerve fibres in non-chagasic and chagasic human colon--a quantitative immunohistochemical study.

Chagasic megacolon is accompanied by extensive myenteric and, simultaneously, moderate submucosal neuron loss. Here, we examined changes of the innervation pattern of the lamina propria (LP) and muscularis mucosae (MM). Two alternating sets of cryosections were taken from seven non-chagasic colonic and seven chagasic megacolonic specimens (the latter included both the dilated megacolonic and the non-dilated transitional oral and anal zones) and were immunohistochemically triple-stained for smooth-muscle actin (SMA), synaptophysin (SYN) and glial acid protein S100 and, alternatively, for SMA, vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) and somatostatin (SOM).

Regenerative process evaluation of neuronal subclasses in chagasic patients with megacolon.

Chagas' disease is one of the most serious parasitic diseases of Latin America, with a social and economic impact far outweighing the combined effects of other parasitic diseases such as malaria, leishmaniasis and schistosomiasis. In the chronic phase of this disease, the destruction of enteric nervous system (ENS) components leads to megacolon development. Previous data presented that the regeneration tax in the ENS neurons is augmented in chagasic patients.

Preponderance of inhibitory versus excitatory intramuscular nerve fibres in human chagasic megacolon.

Introduction: Megacolon, chronic dilation of a colonic segment, is a frequent sign of Chagas disease. It is accompanied by an extensive neuron loss which, as shown recently, results in a partial, selective survival of nitrergic myenteric neurons. Here, we focused on the balance of intramuscular excitatory (choline acetyltransferase [ChAT]-immunoreactive) and inhibitory (neuronal nitric oxide synthase [NOS]- as well as vasoactive intestinal peptide [VIP]-immunoreactive) nerve fibres.

Selective survival of calretinin- and vasoactive-intestinal-peptide-containing nerve elements in human chagasic submucosa and mucosa.

Chronic Chagas' disease is frequently characterized by massive myenteric neuron loss resulting in megacolon with severely and irreversibly disturbed motility. Here, we focused on two submucosal neuron populations, immunoreactive for calretinin (CALR) or somatostatin (SOM), and their respective mucosal nerve fibres in chagasic megacolon. Surgically removed megacolonic segments of seven chagasic patients were compared with seven age- and region-matched non-chagasic control segments.

Enteroglial cells act as antigen-presenting cells in chagasic megacolon.

Chagas disease is one of the most serious parasitic diseases of Latin America, with a social and economic impact far outweighing the combined effects of other parasitic diseases such as malaria, leishmaniasis, and schistosomiasis. In the chronic phase of this disease, the destruction of enteric nervous system components leads to megacolon development. Besides neurons, the enteric nervous system is constituted by enteric glial cells, representing an extensive but relatively poorly described population within the gastrointestinal tract.

Partial, selective survival of nitrergic neurons in chagasic megacolon.

One frequent chronic syndrome of Chagas' disease is megacolon, an irreversible dilation of a colonic segment. Extensive enteric neuron loss in the affected segment is regarded as key factor for deficient motility. Here, we assessed the quantitative balance between cholinergic and nitrergic neurons representing the main limbs of excitatory and inhibitory colonic motor innervation, respectively.

Characterization of the presence and distribution of Foxp3(+) cells in chagasic patients with and without megacolon.

Patients with Chagas's disease in the chronic phase regularly present with the chagasic megacolon. This form is characterized by inflammation, neuronal destruction, and organ dilatation. Chagasic patients with megacolon always present with inflammatory process near the enteric plexuses of the colon, as previously demonstrated.

Glial fibrillary acidic protein and S-100 colocalization in the enteroglial cells in dilated and nondilated portions of colon from chagasic patients.

After acute immunoreactive infestation with the Chagas' disease parasite, Trypanosoma cruzi, some patients develop chronic megacolon, whereas others remain asymptomatic. Chronic chagasic patients with gastrointestinal involvement exhibit inflammation and degeneration of enteric neurons. Our hypothesis is that enteric glial cells may be involved in the modulation of enteric inflammatory responses or even control the colon's dilatation.