A panel of phenotypically and genotypically diverse bioluminescent:fluorescent Trypanosoma cruzi strains as a resource for Chagas disease research.

Chagas disease is caused by Trypanosoma cruzi, a protozoan parasite that displays considerable genetic diversity. Infections result in a range of pathological outcomes, and different strains can exhibit a wide spectrum of anti-parasitic drug tolerance. The genetic determinants of infectivity, virulence and therapeutic susceptibility remain largely unknown. As experimental tools to address these issues, we have generated a panel of bioluminescent:fluorescent parasite strains that cover the diversity of the T. cruzi species. These reporters allow spatio-temporal infection dynamics in murine models to be monitored in a non-invasive manner by in vivo imaging, provide a capability to detect rare infection foci at single-cell resolution, and represent a valuable resource for investigating virulence and host:parasite interactions at a mechanistic level. Importantly, these parasite reporter strains can also contribute to the Chagas disease drug screening cascade by ensuring that candidate compounds have pan-species in vivo activity prior to being advanced into clinical testing. The parasite strains described in this paper are available on request.

Enteric nervous system regeneration and functional cure of experimental digestive Chagas disease with trypanocidal chemotherapy.

Digestive Chagas disease (DCD) is an enteric neuropathy caused by Trypanosoma cruzi infection. There is a lack of evidence on the mechanism of pathogenesis and rationales for treatment. We used a female C3H/HeN mouse model that recapitulates key clinical manifestations to study how infection dynamics shape DCD pathology and the impact of treatment with the front-line, anti-parasitic drug benznidazole. Curative treatment 6 weeks post-infection resulted in sustained recovery of gastrointestinal transit function, whereas treatment failure led to infection relapse and gradual return of DCD symptoms. Neuro/immune gene expression patterns shifted from chronic inflammation to a tissue repair profile after cure, accompanied by increased cellular proliferation, glial cell marker expression and recovery of neuronal density in the myenteric plexus. Delaying treatment until 24 weeks post-infection led to partial reversal of DCD, suggesting the accumulation of permanent tissue damage over the course of chronic infection. Our study shows that murine DCD pathogenesis is sustained by chronic T. cruzi infection and is not an inevitable consequence of acute stage denervation. The risk of irreversible enteric neuromuscular tissue damage and dysfunction developing highlights the importance of prompt diagnosis and treatment. These findings support the concept of treating asymptomatic, T. cruzi-infected individuals with benznidazole to prevent DCD development.

Local association of Trypanosoma cruzi chronic infection foci and enteric neuropathic lesions at the tissue micro-domain scale.

Digestive Chagas disease (DCD) is an enteric neuropathy caused by Trypanosoma cruzi infection. The mechanism of pathogenesis is poorly understood and the lack of a robust, predictive animal model has held back research. We screened a series of mouse models using gastrointestinal tracer assays and in vivo infection imaging systems to discover a subset exhibiting chronic digestive transit dysfunction and significant retention of faeces in both sated and fasted conditions. The colon was a specific site of both tissue parasite persistence, delayed transit and dramatic loss of myenteric neurons as revealed by whole-mount immunofluorescence analysis. DCD mice therefore recapitulated key clinical manifestations of human disease. We also exploited dual reporter transgenic parasites to home in on locations of rare chronic infection foci in the colon by ex vivo bioluminescence imaging and then used fluorescence imaging in tissue microdomains to reveal co-localisation of infection and enteric nervous system lesions. This indicates that long-term T. cruzi-host interactions in the colon drive DCD pathogenesis, suggesting that the efficacy of anti-parasitic chemotherapy against chronic disease progression warrants further pre-clinical investigation.