Gene Polymorphism and MASP-3 Serum Levels in Patients with Chronic Chagas Disease.

Introduction: Chagas disease (CD), caused by , is a major public health issue worldwide affecting 6-7 million people, mainly in Latin America. The complement system plays a crucial role in host immune defense against infection and during the chronic phase of CD; however, the role of the MBL-associated serine protease 1 () gene encoding MASP-1, MASP-3, and MAp44 complement proteins has not yet been reported in CD. This study investigated the possible association between gene polymorphisms and MASP-3 protein serum levels in chronic CD and its clinical forms.

Methods: Five polymorphisms of gene regulatory regions were genotyped in 214 patients with CD and 197 healthy controls (, , , and ). MASP-3 serum levels were assessed in 70 patients and 66 healthy controls. Clinical data, serum levels of complement proteins (ficolin-2, ficolin-3 and MBL) and inflammatory markers (pentraxin-3 and hsCRP) were also included in the analyses.

Results: A significant association of the haplotype with CD (p= 0.002; OR 3.17 [1.19-8.39]) and chronic chagasic cardiomyopathy (CCC) (p= 0.013; OR 4.57 [1.37-15.16] was observed. MASP-3 and pentraxin-3 levels were positively correlated in the patients (rho = 0.62; p = 0.0001). MASP-3 levels were not associated with polymorphisms or CD and its clinical forms. Furthermore, no correlation was observed between MASP-3 levels and that of ficolin-2, ficolin-3, MBL and hsCRP.

Conclusion: Our findings suggest a possible role for the haplotype in susceptibility to chronic CD and CCC clinical forms.