Correlation between presence of Trypanosoma cruzi DNA in heart tissue of baboons and cynomolgus monkeys, and lymphocytic myocarditis
- Resource Type
- Authors
- Robert E. Shade; John L. VandeBerg; Michael A. Owston; Jane F. VandeBerg; R. Mark Sharp; Edward J. Dick; Alice Yang; James N. Mubiru
- Source
- The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene. 90(4)
- Subject
- Chagas Cardiomyopathy
Male
Pathology
medicine.medical_specialty
Myocarditis
Trypanosoma cruzi
Lymphocytic myocarditis
Polymerase Chain Reaction
law.invention
law
Virology
parasitic diseases
medicine
Animals
Lymphocytes
Polymerase chain reaction
Retrospective Studies
biology
DNA, Kinetoplast
Monkey Diseases
Articles
medicine.disease
biology.organism_classification
Texas
Trypanosoma cruzi DNA
Macaca fascicularis
Infectious Diseases
Epicarditis
Parasitology
Female
Papio hamadryas
Primer (molecular biology)
- Language
- ISSN
- 1476-1645
Trypanosoma cruzi, the causative agent of Chagas' disease, preferentially infects cardiac and digestive tissues. Baboons living in Texas (Papio hamadryas) and cynomolgus monkeys (Macaca fascicularis) have been reported to be infected naturally with T. cruzi. In this study, we retrospectively reviewed cases of animals that were diagnosed with lymphocytic myocarditis and used a polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based method (S36/S35 primer set) to amplify T. cruzi DNA from archived frozen and formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) cardiac tissues. We show that the PCR method is applicable in archived frozen and FFPE tissues and the sensitivity is in the femtogram range. A positive correlation between PCR positivity and lymphocytic myocarditis in both baboons and cynomolgus monkeys is shown. We also show epicarditis as a common finding in animals infected with T. cruzi.