Severe digestive pathology associated with chronic Chaga's disease in Ecuador: report of two cases

• Published in: Revista da Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical
• Main Authors: Angel G. Guevara, José W. Eras, Marcelo Recalde, Luis Vinueza, Philip J. Cooper, Ali Ouaissi, Ronald H. Guderian
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical (SBMT) 1997
• Subjects: Doença de Chagas; T. cruzi; PCR; Megaesôfago; Megacólon; Ecuador; Chagas' disease; Megaesophagus; Megacolon; Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine; RC955-962; Arctic
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1590/S0037-86821997000500007; https://doaj.org/article/0d8c78c1324e4e1cb6f950b73a4867ba

DNA extracted from peripheral blood of two Ecuadorian patients showing severe digestive pathology was amplified by the polymerase chain reaction using a Trypanosoma cruzi specific oligonucleotide primers derived from the primary sequence of a cDNA encoding for a 24 kDa excretory/secretory protein. The positive PCR results together with the clinical findings confirmed that both patients had a digestive pathology due to Chagas' disease. This pathology could be more frequent than previously described in the chagasic endemic regions of Andean countries. DNA obtido do sangue periférico de dois pacientes equatorianos, que apresentavam severa patologia digestiva, foi amplificado pela "polymerase chain reaction" (PCR) utilizando os oligonucleotídoes específicos do Trypanosoma cruzi, derivados de uma seqüência primária de cDNA codificado de 24 kDa proteína excretória/secretória. Os resultados positivos da PCR junto com os achados clínicos confirmam que os dois pacientes tinham uma patologia digestiva de origem chagásica. Esta patologia poderia ser mais freqüente que a descrita previamente nas regiões endêmicas chagásicas das cidades dos Andes.