Trypanosoma cruzi-Induced Central Nervous System Alterations: From the Entry of Inflammatory Cells to Potential Cognitive and Psychiatric Abnormalities

Abstract

Trypanosoma cruzi, a protozoan parasite and the causative agent of Chagas disease, is capable of inducing meningoencephalitis. Independent of the progression from acute to chronic myocarditis observed in immunocompetent T. cruzi-infected patients, inflammation of the central ner- vous system (CNS) self-resolves during acute infection. In contrast, in chronically infected immunocompromised Cha- gas disease patients, the CNS is a major site of reactivation, which can lead to severe and frequently fatal meningoen- cephalitis. More than one hundred years after the discovery of Chagas disease, many questions concerning the molecu- lar mechanisms involved in the induction and resolution of T. cruzi-provoked meningoencephalitis remain unanswered. The study of murine models that reproduce crucial aspects of T. cruzi-elicited CNS inflammation has not only shed light on some of these questions, but it has also raised additional ones. Here, we discuss our results in the context of the cur- rent literature, questioning the involvement of CNS alter- ations caused by the inflammation and parasite in the behav- ioral abnormalities observed during T. cruzi infection.