The genesis of anti-cardiac G protein coupled receptor antibodies in Chagas disease

Abstract

Antibodies against cardiac G protein-coupled receptors are found in sera of patients with chronic Chagas disease, a chronic infection caused by the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi. In this chapter, results presented herein indicate that these anti-receptor reactivities are a property of antibodies generated against Trypanosoma cruzi. Indeed, antibodies against the C-terminal end of the ribosomal P proteins of the parasite may act as partial agonists of cardiac receptors, such as the beta1 adrenergic and muscarinic receptors. Studies on the genesis of these antibodies in Chagas disease may shed light on i) the type of mechanisms involved in the genesis of anti-receptor antibodies in idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathies, and ii) the role of these antibodies in the development of arrhythmia, heart failure and sudden death.