Publications by authors named "Fernando J Sanchez Valdez"

The diagnosis of American tegumentary leishmaniasis (ATL) still requires the design of more effective tools. Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis is the causal agent of the 90% of Argentinean ATL cases. Considering the current knowledge, an ELISA based crude antigen (CA) for the diagnosis was designed.

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The ability of the Chagas disease agent to resist extended in vivo exposure to highly effective trypanocidal compounds prompted us to explore the potential for dormancy and its contribution to failed drug treatments in this infection. We document the development of non-proliferating intracellular amastigotes in vivo and in vitro in the absence of drug treatment. Non-proliferative amastigotes ultimately converted to trypomastigotes and established infections in new host cells.

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Chagas disease is a neglected tropical disease caused by the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi. This illness is now becoming global, mainly due to congenital transmission, and so far, there are no prophylactic or therapeutic vaccines available to either prevent or treat Chagas disease. Therefore, different approaches aimed at identifying new protective immunogens are urgently needed.

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Trypanosoma cruzi calreticulin (TcCRT) is a virulence factor that binds complement C1, thus inhibiting the activation of the classical complement pathway and generating pro-phagocytic signals that increase parasite infectivity. In a previous work, we characterized a clonal cell line lacking one TcCRT allele (TcCRT+/-) and another overexpressing it (TcCRT+), both derived from the attenuated TCC T. cruzi strain.

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Trypanosoma cruzi calreticulin (TcCRT) can hijack complement C1, mannan-binding lectin and ficolins from serum thus inhibiting the classical and lectin complement pathway activation respectively. To understand the in vivo biological functions of TcCRT in T. cruzi we generated a clonal cell line lacking one TcCRT allele (TcCRT+/-) and another clone overexpressing it (TcCRT+).

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Serological tests are the main laboratory procedures used for diagnosis during the indeterminate and chronic stages of Chagas' disease. A serological regression to negativity is the main criterion used to define parasitological cure in treated patients. The aim of this work was to monitor the individual specificities of antibody levels for 3 years posttreatment in 18 adult patients.

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