{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,16]],"date-time":"2026-05-16T04:24:42Z","timestamp":1778905482930,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":37,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,6,20]],"date-time":"2024-06-20T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1718841600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Institut de Recherche pour le D\u00e9veloppement\u201d (IRD)"},{"name":"Swedish International Developing Cooperation Agency (SIDA)"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Microorganisms"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Maternal parasitemia and placental parasite load were examined in mother\u2013newborn pairs to determine their effect on the congenital transmission of Trypanosoma cruzi. Parasitemia was qualitatively assessed in mothers and newborns by the microhematocrit test; parasite load was determined in the placental tissues of transmitting and non-transmitting mothers by the detection of T. cruzi DNA and by histology. Compared to transmitter mothers, the frequency and prevalence of parasitemia were found to be increased in non-transmitter mothers; however, the frequency and prevalence of parasite load were higher among the transmitter mothers than among their non-transmitter counterparts. Additionally, serum levels of interferon (IFN)-\u03b3 were measured by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in peripheral, placental, and cord blood samples. Median values of IFN-\u03b3 were significantly increased in the cord blood of uninfected newborns. The median IFN-\u03b3 values of transmitter and non-transmitter mothers were not significantly different; however, non-transmitter mothers had the highest total IFN-\u03b3 production among the group of mothers. Collectively, the results of this study suggest that the anti-T. cruzi immune response occurring in the placenta and cord is under the influence of the cytokines from the mother\u2019s blood and results in the control of parasitemia in uninfected newborns.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/microorganisms12061243","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,6,20]],"date-time":"2024-06-20T05:27:19Z","timestamp":1718861239000},"page":"1243","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":4,"title":["Parasitic Effects on the Congenital Transmission of Trypanosoma cruzi in Mother\u2013Newborn Pairs"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"12","author":[{"given":"Ana Gabriela","family":"Herrera Choque","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Unidad de Inmunolog\u00eda Parasitaria, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Mayor de San Andr\u00e9s, La Paz, Bolivia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2990-011X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Washington R.","family":"Cuna","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Unidad de Inmunolog\u00eda Parasitaria, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Mayor de San Andr\u00e9s, La Paz, Bolivia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1596-8036","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Simona","family":"Gabrielli","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Simonetta","family":"Mattiucci","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3372-2248","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Roberto","family":"Passera","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical Sciences, University of Torino, 10126 Torino, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9643-4342","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Celeste","family":"Rodriguez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Unidad de Inmunolog\u00eda Parasitaria, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Mayor de San Andr\u00e9s, La Paz, Bolivia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,6,20]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"577","DOI":"10.1590\/S0074-02762003000500001","article-title":"Chagas disease: Current epidemiological trends after the interruption of vectorial and transfusional transmission in the southern cone countries","volume":"98","author":"Moncayo","year":"2003","journal-title":"Mem. 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