Cardiac Chagas Disease: MMPs, TIMPs, Galectins, and TGF- β as Tissue Remodelling Players.

Cardiac Chagas Disease: MMPs, TIMPs, Galectins, and TGF-β as Tissue Remodelling Players. Dis Markers. 2019;2019:3632906 Authors: da Costa AWF, do Carmo Neto JR, Braga YLL, Silva BA, Lamounier AB, Silva BO, Dos Reis MA, de Oliveira FA, Celes MRN, Machado JR Abstract A century after the discovery of Chagas disease, studies are still needed to establish the complex pathophysiology of this disease. However, it is known that several proteins and molecules are related to the establishment of this disease, its evolution, and the appearance of its different clinical forms. Metalloproteinases and their tissue inhibitors, galectins, and TGF-β are involved in the process of infection and consequently the development of myocarditis, tissue remodeling, and fibrosis upon infection with Trypanosoma cruzi. Thus, considering that the heart is one of the main target organs in Chagas disease, knowledge regarding the mechanisms of action of these molecules is essential to understand how they interact and trigger local and systemic reactions and, consequently, determine whether they contribute to the development of Chagas' heart disease. In this sense, it is believed that the inflammatory microenvironment caused by the infection alters the expression of these proteins favoring progression of the host-parasite cycle and thereby stimulating cardiac tissue remodeling mechanisms and fibrosis. The aim of this review was to gather information on metalloprote...
Source: Disease Markers - Category: Laboratory Medicine Tags: Dis Markers Source Type: research