Immunopathologie de la trypanosomiase américaine
Resumen
SUMMARY.
lmmunopathology of American trypanosomiasis
Chagas'disease, caused by infection with Trypanosoma cruzi, affects 14-16 million
people in Latin America. Clinical manifestations are represented by cardiomyopathy or
d¡lated digestive organs, probably of autoimmune origin. Despite its intracellular multiplication, the parasite has developed some escape mechanisms such as complement
evasion, polyclonal activation and molecular mimicry. Protection and resistance may
be mediated by specific antibodies and CD8 T cells but is never complete, leading to
chronic infection. lmmune response is also involved in the triggering of autoimmune
pathology mediated by T cells and accompanied by production of a large quantity of
autoantibodies.
Recent data on immunopathology have evidenced the major roles of both T cells and
a complex production of cytok¡nes, arguing for the existence of incomplete control of
the infection and a dysregulated immune response leading to the disease.