Role of Monokine Induced by Interferon Gamma in Discrimination and Prognosis of Patients With Chagas' Disease and Idiopathic Dilated Cardiomyopathy

AIMS: Monokine induced by interferon gamma (MIG) is a chemokine that has been found to increase in the myocardium of mice infected with Trypanosoma cruzi. It is not known whether MIG is regulated in patients with Chagas' disease (CD) and idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). Therefore, we aimed to investigate the possible diagnostic and/or prognostic value of MIG in these patients. METHODS AND RESULTS: In this prospective cohort study, MIG was measured in patients with CD (n = 93) and DCM (n = 47) and in healthy control subjects (n = 24). MIG was found to be significantly increased in patients with CD and advanced heart failure (New York Heart Association III-IV). Although no significant increase in MIG levels was observed in patients with DCM, there was a significant correlation between MIG and left ventricular ejection fraction in patients with DCM. In contrast, despite the significant increase in patients with CD and advanced heart failure, MIG had no significant correlation with any of the echocardiographic parameters in CD. MIG also failed to predict mortality and necessity for heart transplant in patients with CD but showed a clear trend for patients with DCM. CONCLUSIONS: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to investigate MIG in patients with CD and DCM. The significant increase of MIG in patients with CD and advanced heart failure, the negative correlation between MIG and left ventricular ejection fraction, and the clear trend in discrimination using a cutoff value found in patients with DCM require further investigation to clarify the diagnostic and prognostic potential of MIG in these patients.