Title
HIV and chagas disease: An evaluation of the use of real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction to measure levels of trypanosoma cruzi parasitemia in HIV patients in Cochabamba, Bolivia
Date Issued
01 September 2021
Access level
open access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
Reimer-McAtee M.J.
Mejia C.
CLARK, TARYN
Terle J.
Cabeza J.
Lora M.H.
Castro R.
Lozano D.
Bern C.
Torrico F.
Publisher(s)
American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
Abstract
This cross-sectional study evaluated epidemiologic characteristics of persons living with HIV (PWH) coinfected with Trypanosoma cruzi in Cochabamba, Bolivia, and estimated T. cruzi parasitemia by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) in patients with and without evidence of reactivation by direct microscopy. Thirty-two of the 116 HIV patients evaluated had positive serology for T. cruzi indicative of chronic Chagas disease (27.6%). Sixteen of the 32 (50%) patients with positive serology were positive by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), and four of the 32 (12.5%) were positive by direct microscopy. The median parasite load by qPCR in those with CD41, 200 was 168 parasites/mL (73-9951) compared with 28.5 parasites/mL (15–1,528) in those with CD41 $ 200 (P 5 0.89). There was a significant inverse relationship between the degree of parasitemia estimated by qPCR from blood clot and CD41 count on the logarithmic scale (rsBC5 –0.70, P 5 0.007). The correlation between T. cruzi estimated by qPCR1 blood clot and HIV viral load was statistically significant with rsBC 5 0.61, P 5 0.047. Given the significant mortality of PWH and Chagas reactivation and that 57% of our patients with CD41 counts, 200 cells/mm3 showed evidence of reactivation, we propose that screening for chronic Chagas disease be considered in PWH in regions endemic for Chagas disease and in the immigrant populations in nonendemic regions. Additionally, our study showed that PWH with advancing immunosuppression have higher levels of estimated parasitemia measured by qPCR and suggests a role for active surveillance for Chagas reactivation with consideration of treatment with antitrypanosomal therapy until immune reconstitution can be achieved.
Start page
643
Volume
105
Issue
3
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Enfermedades infecciosas
Epidemiología
Inmunología
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-85115335396
PubMed ID
Source
American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
ISSN of the container
0002-9637
Sponsor(s)
Financial support: This study was supported by the T35-AI065385-05 grant through the National Institutes of Health. Funders took no part in the design or interpretation of the study. The content of this study is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the views of the funding sources.
Sources of information:
Directorio de Producción Científica
Scopus