AJTMH Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
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Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg., 75(6), 2006, pp. 1082-1084
Copyright © 2006 by The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

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SHORT REPORT


AMNIOTIC FLUID IS NOT USEFUL FOR DIAGNOSIS OF CONGENITAL TRYPANOSOMA CRUZI INFECTION

MYRNA VIRREIRA, SABRINA MARTINEZ, CRISTINA ALONSO-VEGA, FAUSTINO TORRICO, MARCO SOLANO, MARY CRUZ TORRICO, RUDY PARRADO, CARINE TRUYENS, YVES CARLIER, AND MICHAL SVOBODA*
Laboratoire de Chimie Biologique, Faculté de Médecine, Université Libre de Bruxelles (U.L.B.), Brussels, Belgium; Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Mayor de San Simon (U.M.S.S.), Cochabamba, Bolivia; Laboratoire de Parasitologie, Faculté de Médecine, Université Libre de Bruxelles (U.L.B.), Brussels, Belgium

 

ABSTRACT

Although Trypanosoma cruzi can be transmitted transplacentally and induce congenital infection, no data are available about the presence of this parasite in human amniotic fluid. We examined 8, 19, and 4 amniotic fluid samples (collected at delivery or by aspiration of gastric content of neonates) from control uninfected mothers (M–B–), infected mothers delivering uninfected newborns (M+B–), and mothers of confirmed congenital cases (M+B+), respectively. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR), using nuclear and kinetoplastic DNA primers (Tcz1-Tcz2 and 121–122), were negative for all control M–B– samples, but positive for 5 of 19 M+B– and 2 of 4 M+B+ samples. To determine the number of parasites in the positive samples, real-time PCR using S35/S36 kinetoplastic DNA was performed. Only one M+B+ sample presented a high parasitic DNA amount, whereas the other six PCR-positive samples displayed traces of T. cruzi DNA. In conclusion, the release of parasites in amniotic fluid is probably a rare event that cannot be helpful for the routine diagnosis of congenital Chagas disease.

Received June 21, 2006. Accepted for publication July 24, 2006.

Acknowledgments: The authors thank Marisol Cordova and the staff of the maternity German Urquidi (Cochabamba, Bolivia) for the management of patients; Miguel Guzman, Myrian Huanca, Rudy Parrado, and Marco Antonio Solano (CUMETROP/LABIMED, U.M.S.S., Cochabamba, Bolivia) for the serological and parasitological diagnosis of patients.

Financial support: M. Virreira is fellow of the "Xénophilia" grant (ULB, Belgium). C. Alonso-Vega is fellow of the "Association pour la Promotion de l’Education et la Formation à l’Etranger" (APEFE, "Communauté Française de Belgique"). This study was supported by the Conseil Interuniversitaire de la Communauté Française de Belgique (CIUF), the Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifique Médicale (Belgium, conventions 3.4.595.99/3.4.615.05), and the Community and Child Health (CCH) Chagas control program (USAID).

* Address correspondence to Michal Svoboda, Laboratoire de Chimie Biologique, Faculté de Médecine, U.L.B., 808 route de Lennik CP 611, B-1070 Bruxelles, Belgium. E-mail: msvobod{at}ulb.ac.be

Authors’ addresses: Myrna Virreira, Sabrina Martinez, and Michal Svoboda, Laboratoire de Chimie Biologique, Faculté de Médecine, Université Libre de Bruxelles (U.L.B.), Route de Lennik 808, CP 611, B-1070 Brussels, Belgium. Cristina Alonso-Vega, Faustino Torrico, Marco Solano, Mary Cruz Torrico, and Rudy Parrado, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Mayor de San Simon (U.M.S.S.), Avenida Aniceto Arce 371, casilla 922, Cochabamba, Bolivia. Carine Truyens and Yves Carlier, Laboratoire de Parasitologie, Faculté de Médecine, Université Libre de Bruxelles (U.L.B.), Route de Lennik 808, CP 611, B-1070 Brussels, Belgium.




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M. Virreira, C. Truyens, C. Alonso-Vega, L. Brutus, J. Jijena, F. Torrico, Y. Carlier, and M. Svoboda
Comparison of Trypanosoma cruzi Lineages and Levels of Parasitic DNA in Infected Mothers and Their Newborns
Am J Trop Med Hyg, July 1, 2007; 77(1): 102 - 106.
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