Coincidence of tissue antibody and cardiac pathology in mice infected with Trypanosoma cruzi

Trypanosoma cruzi infection of man and experimental hosts results in cardiac tissue damage during both acute and chronic stages of infection. One major suggestion is that it has an autoimmune basis. In the present study, a mouse model for experimental Chagas disease was used to study cardiac histopathology and the level of antibody in heart tissue. We report herein that both C3H and B/6 infected mice develop characteristic histopathology and that affected hearts contain increased amounts of tissue antibody.