Associação de polimorfismos em genes de citocinas com a doença de Chagas

Abstract

Chagas disease (CD) is considered a public health problem in Latin America due to its high prevalence and morbidity and mortality. And although the disease has been described for more than a century, its pathogenesis and the determining factors for infection with Trypanosoma cruzi protozoan and the chronic forms of the disease (undetermined, cardiac and/or gastrointestinal) are not yet fully understood. Polymorphisms in cytokine genes, especially single nucleotide polymorphisms, may lead to variations in the intensity of the immune response and the susceptibility and variability of clinical manifestations of CD seem to be involved. The purpose of this review was to gather the data regarding polymorphisms in cytokine genes associated with susceptibility and/or protection against CD and their clinical forms in different Latin populations through searches performed in the PubMed (US National Library of Medicine) and Google Academic databases.