Trypanosoma cruzi seropositivity was associated with significantly higher EVI and PN antibody titers compared to seronegative controls (P<0.001), but titers did not correlate with clinical symptoms or disease severity.
Cross-Sectional (n=129)
Do EVI and PN antibody titers correlate with clinical symptoms and severity in patients with Chagas' disease?
While EVI and PN antibodies are elevated in T. cruzi infection, they do not correlate with the clinical severity or symptoms of chronic Chagas' disease, limiting their prognostic value.
p-value: p=<0.001
Antibodies against endocardium, blood vessels, interstitium, and plasma membrane of skeletal and heart muscle cells (EVI), as well as antibodies against structures from peripheral nerve (PN), were studied in serum samples from 27 individuals with negative Trypanosoma cruzi serology and 102 seropositive individuals with or without Chagas' disease from the State of Goiás, Brazil. Although significantly higher titers of EVI and PN antibodies were found in some of the seropositive individuals their presence was not correlated with the clinical symptoms and signs which characterize the chronic stage of the disease, nor with the severity of the disease.
Szarfman et al. (1981) conducted a cross-sectional in Chagas' disease (n=129). Trypanosoma cruzi infection (seropositivity) vs. Negative T. cruzi serology was evaluated on EVI and PN antibody titers (p=<0.001). Trypanosoma cruzi seropositivity was associated with significantly higher EVI and PN antibody titers compared to seronegative controls (P<0.001), but titers did not correlate with clinical symptoms or disease severity.