Chagas disease (CD) is an infectious disease caused by the Trypanosoma cruzi parasite, which is endemic in 21 Latin American countries and represents a serious public health problem worldwide due to migratory processes. The pathophysiological and molecular mechanisms of CD are not fully elucidated; however, the role of the immune response and the inflammatory component in the development of the disease is recognized. In addition, the fact that about 30 % to 40 % of patients infected with T. cruzi develop a cardiac form of the disease named Chronic Chagasic Cardiomyopathy (CCC) or that individuals with the same risk of infection may or may not present it, highlights the relevance of the host genetic component in the disease. Therefore, the identification of genetic markers associated with the risk of developing the pathology is fundamental to establishing prevention, management, and treatment strategies. This study evaluated the gene regions previously associated with T. cruzi infection and/or development of CCC in four Latin American populations from endemic areas of CD through a case-control study in 3413 individuals classified as seronegative (n=1104), asymptomatic seropositive (n=1328) and with CCC (n=981) from Colombian, Argentinean, Bolivian and Brazilian populations. The analysis was performed with the results obtained from a genome-wide association study (GWAS) carried out by the Ibero-American Network for Genomic Medicine in Chagas Disease, RIMGECH, using the Illumina Global Screening Array microarray and imputed data from the University of Michigan server. Fifty-six gene regions (± 2kb) associated in previous studies with CD were selected, and a meta-analysis was performed with significant SNPs per gene region. Statistical analyses were performed with PLINK software and six SNPs were identified in the TLR4, CXCL9, MASP2, HLA-DPB1, FCN2, and CYP21A2 genes associated with protection or risk for T. cruzi infection in the Colombian and Argentine cohorts. Ten SNPs of the ITGAM, CCR5, VDR, TLR2, PTPN22, HLA-A, HLA-G, and CCL19 genes were significantly associated with protection or risk for the development of CCC. Finally, in the populations analyzed, some SNPs previously identified in different studies were replicated, which supports their role in the risk of infection or development of the cardiac phase of the disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]