Programa de Anatomía y Biología del Desarrollo, Instituto de Ciencias Biomédicas, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Chile, Independencia, Región Metropolitana, 1027 Santiago de Chile, Chile.
J Trop Med. 2012;2012:758357. doi: 10.1155/2012/758357. Epub 2011 Oct 5.
Chagas disease, produced by the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi (T. cruzi), is one of the most frequent endemic diseases in Latin America. In spite the fact that in the past few years T. cruzi congenital transmission has become of epidemiological importance, studies about this mechanism of infection are scarce. In order to explore some morphological aspects of this infection in the placenta, we analyzed placentas from T. cruzi-infected mothers by immunohistochemical and histochemical methods. Infection in mothers, newborns, and placentas was confirmed by PCR and by immunofluorescence in the placenta. T. cruzi-infected placentas present destruction of the syncytiotrophoblast and villous stroma, selective disorganization of the basal lamina, and disorganization of collagen I in villous stroma. Our results suggest that the parasite induces reorganization of this tissue component and in this way may regulate both inflammatory and immune responses in the host. Changes in the ECM of placental tissues, together with the immunological status of mother and fetus, and parasite load may determine the probability of congenital transmission of T. cruzi.
克氏锥虫（T. cruzi）引起的恰加斯病是拉丁美洲最常见的地方性疾病之一。尽管近年来，克氏锥虫先天性传播已成为流行病学上的重要问题，但对于这种感染机制的研究仍然很少。为了探讨感染在胎盘组织中的一些形态学方面，我们通过免疫组织化学和组织化学方法分析了来自克氏锥虫感染母亲的胎盘。通过 PCR 和胎盘免疫荧光检测确认了母亲、新生儿和胎盘的感染。克氏锥虫感染的胎盘表现出合体滋养层和绒毛间质的破坏、基底膜的选择性紊乱以及绒毛间质中 I 型胶原的紊乱。我们的结果表明，寄生虫诱导了这种组织成分的重排，从而可能调节宿主中的炎症和免疫反应。胎盘组织细胞外基质的变化，以及母亲和胎儿的免疫状态和寄生虫负荷，可能决定了克氏锥虫先天性传播的概率。
