The study, which used purple and blue dyes commonly found in laboratories, may provide an affordable, effective treatment for the disease, which currently infects about 17 million people in 21 Latin American countries. It may also provide an effective way to remove harmful organisms from blood. The study was presented recently at the annual meeting of the Argentina Association of Hematology and Immuno-hematology in Buenos Aires.
Dr. Jose Ocariz, associate professor of pathology and director of UCI Medical Center's Blood Bank and Donor Services, and his colleagues found that the two dyes -- crystal violet and methylene blue -- eliminated measurable concentrations of Trypanosoma cruzi, the parasite that causes Chagas disease, in human blood samples.
"The two dyes appeared to wipe out any measurable concentration in the laboratory of T. cruzi from the blood samples," Ocariz said. "This means the dyes could prove a low-tech way to eliminate most of the parasites, allowing the body's immune system to fight the disease successfully. The dyes also removed from blood a number of disease-causing organisms, including viruses and bacteria."
Brazilian physician Carlos Chagas discovered the disease in 1909. It is considered a disease of poverty because the parasite is transmitted by a bug found in substandard housing and thatched roofs, according to the World Health Organization. The WHO estimates that nearly 100 million people in South America live in conditions that put them at risk for the disease.
It also can be transmitted by transfusions of contaminated blood. In some countries, the rate of T. cruzi contamination in blood banks often ranges higher than similar rates for the viruses that cause AIDS and hepatitis.
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Contact: Andrew Porterfield
amporter@uci.edu
949-824-3969
University of California - Irvine
15-Oct-2002