New Scheme of Intermittent Benznidazole Administration in Patients Chronically Infected with Trypanosoma cruzi: Clinical, Parasitological, and Serological Assessment after Three Years of Follow-Up

Abstract

In a pilot study, we showed that the intermittent administration of benznidazole in chronic Chagas disease patients resulted in a low rate of treatment suspension and therapeutic failure, as assessed by quantitative PCR (qPCR) at the end of treatment. Here, a 3-year posttreatment follow-up study of the same cohort of patients is presented. The treatment scheme consisted of 12 doses of benznidazole at 5 mg/kg of body weight/day in two daily doses every 5 days. Parasite load, Trypanosoma cruzi -specific antibodies, and serum chemokine levels were measured prior to treatment and after a median follow-up of 36 months posttreatment by DNA minicircle kinetoplastid and nuclear DNA satellite sequence qPCR methods, conventional serological techniques, a Luminex-based assay with recombinant T. cruzi proteins, and a cytometric bead array.