Gene expression changes associated with myocarditis and fibrosis in hearts of mice with chronic chagasic cardiomyopathy

J Infect Dis. 2010 Aug 15;202(3):416-26. doi: 10.1086/653481.

Abstract

Chronic chagasic cardiomyopathy is a leading cause of heart failure in Latin American countries. About 30% of Trypanosoma cruzi-infected individuals develop this severe symptomatic form of the disease, characterized by intense inflammatory response accompanied by fibrosis in the heart. We performed an extensive microarray analysis of hearts from a mouse model of this disease and identified significant alterations in expression of approximately 12% of the sampled genes. Extensive up-regulations were associated with immune-inflammatory responses (chemokines, adhesion molecules, cathepsins, and major histocompatibility complex molecules) and fibrosis (extracellular matrix components, lysyl oxidase, and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase 1). Our results indicate potentially relevant factors involved in the pathogenesis of the disease that may provide new therapeutic targets in chronic Chagas disease.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Chagas Cardiomyopathy / immunology*
  • Chagas Cardiomyopathy / pathology
  • Cytokines / biosynthesis
  • Female
  • Fibrosis / immunology*
  • Fibrosis / pathology
  • Gene Expression Profiling*
  • Inflammation Mediators / metabolism
  • Male
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred C57BL
  • Myocarditis / immunology*
  • Myocarditis / pathology
  • Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis
  • Trypanosoma cruzi / immunology*
  • Trypanosoma cruzi / pathogenicity*

Substances

  • Cytokines
  • Inflammation Mediators