Oral exposure to Phytomonas serpens attenuates thrombocytopenia and leukopenia during acute infection with Trypanosoma cruzi.

Mice infected with Trypanosoma cruzi, the agent of Chagas disease, rapidly develop anemia and thrombocytopenia. These effects are partially promoted by the parasite trans-sialidase (TS), which is shed in the blood and depletes sialic acid from the platelets, inducing accelerated platelet clearance and causing thrombocytopenia during the acute phase of disease. Here, we demonstrate that oral immunization of C57BL/6 mice with Phytomonas serpens, a phytoflagellate parasite that shares common antigens with T.