THERAPY FOR CHAGAS DISEASE IN BABOON MODEL

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This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. Primary support for the subproject and the subproject's principal investigator may have been provided by other sources, including other NIH sources. The Total Cost listed for the subproject likely represents the estimated amount of Center infrastructure utilized by the subproject, not direct funding provided by the NCRR grant to the subproject or subproject staff. Chagas disease is caused by a parasite that is carried by a blood-sucking bug that is endemic in Central and South America and in southern U.S. This disease causes perturbations in the immune system and it causes cardiac pathology. Infected primates should not be used for studies in infectious disease research or cardiac research. At the SNPRC 2% of baboons, 4% of rhesus macaques and 12% of chimpanzees are infected. We know that this infection also is endemic at at least some of the other primate facilities in the southern U.S. There is no treatment for Chagas disease. The initial infection in animals or humans persists lifelong. However, posaconazole, a new drug that is approved as an anti-fungal for human use, has demonstrated a high level of efficacy in eliminating the parasites in treatment of mice that were experimentally infected with the parasite. We are testing this drug in a study involving naturally infected baboons for its efficacy in eliminating the parasite. The experiment will involve endomyocardial biopsy at the beginning and at the end of the study so that parasite levels in the heart and pathological progression can be determined. If the treatment is successful, we expect that its use at primate facilities in southern U.S. will decrease morbidity and mortality among juveniles and breeders, and will increase the number of animals available for research on infectious diseases. Even if the treatment is only partially successful, the health status of infected animals may improve. Furthermore, if the experiment achieves at least partial success, the results will demonstrate the utility of nonhuman primates as models for developing treatments for Chagas disease, which affects 10 million people in Latin America and an estimated 100,000 people in the U.S., as well as an undetermined number of nonhuman primates in the southern U.S.