Comments on the letter by Ribeiro et al.: impairment of parasympathetic-mediated autonomic modulation of the heart in Chagas' cardiomyopathy: parasympathetic modulation vs. tonus.

Chagas' disease is complex immune-mediated disease originated after Trypanosome cruzi transmission, and a major cause of heart failure in Latin American continent. Auto-antibodies directed to type 2 muscarinic parasympathetic (M2) receptors seem to play key roles on the pathogenesis of heart disease, in particular in the impairment of the cardiac autonomic modulation. When talking about M2 agonistic effects, one should first argue about the differences between the terms 'modulation' and 'tonus' before describing possible autonomic influences on the heart.