Vaccines against mucosally invasive, intracellular pathogens must induce a myriad of immune responses to provide optimal mucosal and systemic protection, including CD4(+) T cells, CD8(+) T cells, and Ab-producing B cells. In general, CD4(+) T cells are known to provide important helper functions for both CD8(+) T cell and B cell responses. However, the relative importance of CD4(+) T cells, CD8...

Chagas disease is still a major public health problem in Latin America. Its causative agent, Trypanosoma cruzi, can be typed into three major groups, T. cruzi I, T. cruzi II and hybrids. These groups each have specific genetic characteristics and epidemiological distributions. Several highly virulent strains are found in the hybrid group; their origin is still a matter of debate. The null hypot...

Intracellular colonization and persistent infection by the kinetoplastid protozoan parasite, Trypanosoma cruzi, underlie the pathogenesis of human Chagas disease. To obtain global insights into the T. cruzi infective process, transcriptome dynamics were simultaneously captured in the parasite and host cells in an infection time course of human fibroblasts. Extensive remodeling of the T. cruzi t...

Clinically normal horses developed cellular immunity to Sarcocystis neurona following IM vaccination with a commercial killed S. neurona vaccine, as indicated by the development of measurable anti-S. neurona IgG antibodies and additional intradermal skin testing. Large-scale independent assessments of the vaccine's performance and safety are in progress under field conditions. The next step in ...

Trypanosoma cruzi-GPI anchored membrane proteins (T. cruzi-GPI-AMP) were isolated, purified, characterized and antigenically validated to be proposed as candidates to serologically diagnose Chagas disease. The partition Triton-114 protein fractioning method allowed recovering nearly 7% T. cruzi-GPI-AMP from the total parasite proteins. The immunogenic capability of T. cruzi-GPI-AMP was demonstr...

The protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi is the etiological agent of Chagas disease. In immunosuppressed individuals, as it occurs in the coinfection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the central nervous system may be affected. In this regard, reactivation of Chagas disease is severe and often lethal, and it accounts for meningoencephalitis. Astrocytes play a crucial role in the environment maint...

BACKGROUND Chagas disease is the highest impact parasitic disease in Latin America. We have proposed that changes in Trypanosoma cruzi-specific immune responses might serve as surrogate indicators of treatment success. Herein, we addressed in a long-term follow-up study whether cure achieved after treatment can be predicted by changes in non-conventional indexes of anti-parasite serological and...