Transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) is deeply involved on the pathogenesis of Chagas disease. Our group has been investigating the participation of this pleiotropic cytokine in different aspects of Chagas disease over the last 20 years. Important observations have been made, such as: (i) the ability of Trypanosoma cruzi in activating latent TGF-β; (ii) the potential involvement of TGF-β pathway on T. cruzi invasion of host cells; (iii) association of TGF-β with parasite intracellular replication; (iv) cardiac fibrosis development and maintenance; (v) disruption of Connexin-43 plaque structures and (vi) inflammation and immune response. In this perspective article we intend to discuss the advances of the potential use of new therapies targeting TGF-β to treat the cardiac alterations of Chagas disease-affected patients.

Cardiac damage is a frequent manifestation of Chagas disease, which is caused by the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi. Selenium (Se) is an essential micronutrient, the deficiency of which has been implicated in the development of cardiomyopathy. Our group has previously demonstrated that Se supplementation prevents myocardial damage during acute T. cruzi infection in mice. In this study, we analyzed the effect of Se treatment in cases of T. cruzi infection using prevention and reversion schemes. In the Se prevention scheme, mice were given Se supplements (2 ppm) starting two weeks prior to inoculation with T. cruzi(Brazil strain) and continuing until 120 days post-infection (dpi). In the Se reversion scheme, mice were treated with Se (4 ppm) for 100 days, starting at 160 dpi. Dilatation of the right ventricle was observed in the infected control group at both phases of T. cruzi infection, but it was not observed in the infected group that received Se treatment. Surviving infected mice that were submitted to the Se reversion scheme presented normal P wave values and reduced inflammation of the pericardium. These data indicate that Se treatment prevents right ventricular chamber increase and thus can be proposed as an adjuvant therapy for cardiac alterations already established by T. cruziinfection.

Discute a relação entre os objetos e os ambientes físicos destinados à pesquisa e à promoção da saúde. Analisa o ambiente físico dos laboratórios de pesquisa do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz (IOC/Fiocruz) à luz de princípios da promoção da saúde como ampliação do conceito de saúde, e também a participação dos atores no processo decisório relativo aos espaços de saúde e envolvimento de diferentes disciplinas no planejamento desses ambientes. Encontra a estreita relação entre design, arquitetura e promoção da saúde ao longo da história da Fiocruz e apresenta depoimentos colhidos na oficina de trabalho denominada Espaço, Criação e Alegria, instrumento de sensibilização, participação e escuta dos usuários de ambientes laboratoriais, desenvolvido e aperfeiçoado no IOC/Fiocruz.

The article discusses the relationship between the objects and the physical environments devoted to research and health promotion. It analyzes the physical environment of the Instituto Oswaldo Cruz (IOC/Fiocruz) research laboratories in light of such health promotion principles as expanding the concept of health, participation by the players in the decision making process regarding health areas and the involvement of different disciplines in the planning of these environments. It finds a close relationship between design, architecture and health promotion throughout the history of Fiocruz and presents interviews obtained in the workshop denominated Space, Creation and Happiness, an instrument for sensitization, participation and listening utilized by users of the laboratory environments, developed and perfected in the IOC/Fiocruz.

Chagas disease is a major public health problem in Bolivia. In the city of Cochabamba, 58% of the population lives in peripheral urban districts ("popular zones") where the infection prevalence is extremely high. From 1995 to 1999, we studied the demographics of Chagas infections in children from five to 13 years old (n = 2218) from the South zone (SZ) and North zone (NZ) districts, which differ in social, environmental, and agricultural conditions. Information gathered from these districts demonstrates qualitative and quantitative evidence for the active transmission of Trypanosoma cruzi in urban Cochabamba. Seropositivity was high in both zones (25% in SZ and 19% in NZ). We observed a high risk of infection in children from five to nine years old in SZ, but in NZ, a higher risk occurred in children aged 10-13, with odds ratio for infection three times higher in NZ than in SZ. This difference was not due to triatomine density, since more than 1,000 Triatoma infestans were captured in both zones, but was possibly secondary to the vector infection rate (79% in SZ and 37% in NZ). Electrocardiogram abnormalities were found to be prevalent in children and pre-adolescents (SZ = 40%, NZ = 17%), indicating that under continuous exposure to infection and re-infection, a severe form of the disease may develop early in life. This work demonstrates that T. cruzi infection should also be considered an urban health problem and is not restricted to the rural areas and small villages of Bolivia.

O artigo apresenta resultados de estudos sobre o relacionamento entre as pessoas e os ambientes voltados para a saúde. Expõe o que se fala sobre os aspectos psicofisiológicos ou psicofísicos relativos a esses ambientes, pesquisando as vozes dos dirigentes e legisladores, por meio das leis e portarias ligadas ao tema na esfera federal, estadual e municipal e, por outro lado, escutando as vozes dos usuários por meio de uma oficina de trabalho intitulada "Espaço, Criação e Alegria", aplicada em laboratórios de pesquisa da Fiocruz. Os resultados são os dados provenientes da percepção dos participantes das oficinas sobre seus ambientes de trabalho, colhidos por meio de depoimentos e desenhos. Tais resultados demonstram que a oficina pode ser um instrumento de escuta sensível para designers e arquitetos envolvidos em projetos de obras e reformas de espaços destinados à saúde.

This article presents results of studies on the relationship between people and health environments. It explicits what is said about the psychophysical aspects of those ambiances by directors and legislators by examining the laws and norms linked to the theme. On the other hand, client's perspectives are contemplated by listening to their voices in the workshop "Environment, Creativity and Joy", applied at Fiocruz's research laboratories. The results are data proceeding from workshop participants' perceptions on their work environments, gathered by testimonies and drawings. Such results demonstrate that the workshop can be an instrument of sensitive listening for designers and architects involved in projects involving construction and renovation of health ambiances.

El artículo presenta resultados de estudios sobre la relación entre las personas y los ambientes dedicados a la salud. Expone lo que se dice sobre los aspectos psicofisiológicos o psicofísicos relativos a tales ambientes, pesquisando las voces de los dirigentes y de los legisladores, por medio de las leyes y decretos ligados al tema en la esfera federal, estatal y municipal y, por otro lado, oyendo las voces de los usuarios por medio de un taller de trabajo titulado "Espacio, Creación y Alegría", aplicado en laboratorios de pesquisa de la Fiocruz. Los resultados son los talleres sobre sus ambientes de trabajo, recogidos por medio de declaraciones y dibujos. Tales resultados demuestran que el taller puede ser un instrumento de escucha sensible para diseñadores y arquitectos envueltos en proyectos de obras y reformas de espacios destinados a la salud.

O artigo apresenta resultados de estudos sobre o relacionamento entre as pessoas e os ambientes voltados para a saúde. Expõe o que se fala sobre os aspectos psicofisiológicos ou psicofísicos relativos a esses ambientes, pesquisando as vozes dos dirigentes e legisladores, por meio das leis e portarias ligadas ao tema na esfera federal, estadual e municipal e, por outro lado, escutando as vozes dos usuários por meio de uma oficina de trabalho intitulada "Espaço, Criação e Alegria", aplicada em laboratórios de pesquisa da Fiocruz. Os resultados são os dados provenientes da percepção dos participantes das oficinas sobre seus ambientes de trabalho, colhidos por meio de depoimentos e desenhos. Tais resultados demonstram que a oficina pode ser um instrumento de escuta sensível para designers e arquitetos envolvidos em projetos de obras e reformas de espaços destinados à saúde.

This article presents results of studies on the relationship between people and health environments. It explicits what is said about the psychophysical aspects of those ambiances by directors and legislators by examining the laws and norms linked to the theme. On the other hand, client's perspectives are contemplated by listening to their voices in the workshop "Environment, Creativity and Joy", applied at Fiocruz's research laboratories. The results are data proceeding from workshop participants' perceptions on their work environments, gathered by testimonies and drawings. Such results demonstrate that the workshop can be an instrument of sensitive listening for designers and architects involved in projects involving construction and renovation of health ambiances.

El artículo presenta resultados de estudios sobre la relación entre las personas y los ambientes dedicados a la salud. Expone lo que se dice sobre los aspectos psicofisiológicos o psicofísicos relativos a tales ambientes, pesquisando las voces de los dirigentes y de los legisladores, por medio de las leyes y decretos ligados al tema en la esfera federal, estatal y municipal y, por otro lado, oyendo las voces de los usuarios por medio de un taller de trabajo titulado "Espacio, Creación y Alegría", aplicado en laboratorios de pesquisa de la Fiocruz. Los resultados son los talleres sobre sus ambientes de trabajo, recogidos por medio de declaraciones y dibujos. Tales resultados demuestran que el taller puede ser un instrumento de escucha sensible para diseñadores y arquitectos envueltos en proyectos de obras y reformas de espacios destinados a la salud.

In the celebration of the Oswaldo Cruz Institute centenary, we wanted to stress our concern with the relationship between two of its missions: research and education. What are the educational bases required for science and technology activities on health sciences for the future years? How can scientists collaborate to promote the popularization of academic knowledge and to improve a basic education for citizenship in an ethic and humanistic view? In this article we pointed out to need of commitment, even in the biomedical post-graduation level, of a more integrated philosophy that would be centered on health education, assuming health as a dynamic biological and social equilibrium and emphasizing the need of scientific popularization of science in a cooperative construction way, instead of direct transfer of knowledge, preserving also macro views of health problems in the development of very specific studies. The contemporary explosion of knowledge, particularly biological knowledge, imposes a need of continuous education to face the growing illiteracy. In order to face this challenge, we think that the Oswaldo Cruz Institute honors his dialectic profile of tradition and transformation, always creating new perspectives to disseminate scientific culture in innovated forms.

We herein present an improved assay for detecting the presence of Trypanosoma cruzi in infected cultures. Using chagasic human sera (CHS), we were able to detect T. cruzi infection in primary cultures of both peritoneal macrophages and heart muscle cells (MHC). To avoid elevated background levels - hitherto observed in all experiments especially in those using HMC - CHS were preincubated with uninfected cells in monolayers or suspensions prior to being used for detection of T. cruzi in infected monolayers. Preincubation with cell suspensions gave better results than with monolayers, reducing background by up to three times and increasing sensitivity by to twenty times. In addition, the continous fibroplastic cell line L929 was shown to be suitable for preadsorption of CHS. These results indicate that the high background levels observed in previous reports may be due to the presence of human autoantibodies that recognize surface and/or extracellular matrix components in cell monolayers. We therefore propose a modified procedure that increases the performance of the ELISA method, making it an useful tool even in cultures that would otherwise be expected to present low levels of infection or high levels of background

A caracterização biológica do clone Dm 28c de Trypanosoma cruzi em termos do seu crescimento em meio LIT, ciclo celular, infectividade para camundongos e interação com células fagocíticas profissionais e não-profissionais, mostra que o mesmo comporta-se como um fiel representante da espécie T. cruzi. As propriedades biológicas deste clone miotrópico não mudam de acordo com a proveniência das formas tripomastigotas (i. e., de triatomíneos, de camundongos infectados, de cultura celular ou dos meios quimicamente definidos TAUP e TAU3AAG). Ainda mais, formas tripomastigotas metacíclicas do clone Dm 28c derivado do meio TAU3AAG apresentam um alto grau de infectividade para fibroblastos e células de músculo. Experimentos de ligação de ferritina cationizada à superfície de tripomastigotas, mostram a existência de acúmulos ("caps") de ferritina em regiões próximas ao cinetoplasto, todavia a natureza e o papel destes sítios aniônicos resta a ser determinado. Os resultados indicam que tripomastigotas metacíclicos do clone Dm 28c, obtidos em condições quimicamente definidas, reproduzem o comportamento biológico de T.cruzi, tornando este sistema bastante apropriado para o estudo da interação célula-parasito e para o isolamento de macromoléculas relevantes.

The biological characterization of the Trypanosoma cruzi clone Dm 28c in terms of its growth in LIT medium, cell-cycle, infectivity to mice and interaction with professional and non-professional phagocytic cells shows that it behaves as a bona fide T. cruzi representant. The biological properties of this myotropic clone do not change according to the origin of the trypomastigote forms (i. e., from triatomines, infected mice, cell-culture or from the chemically defined TAUP and TAU3AAG media). In addition Dm 28c metacyclic trypomastigotes from TAU3AAG medium display a high infectivity level to fibroblasts and muscle cells. Experiments on binding of cationized ferritin to trypomastigotes surface show the existence of cap-like structures of ferritin in regions near the kinetoplast. However the nature and role of these anionic sites remain to be determined. The results indicate that metacyclic trypomastigotes from Dm 28c clone obtained under chemically defined conditions reproduce the biological behaviour of T. cruzi, rendering this system very suitable for the study of cell-parasite interactions and for the isolation of trypanosome relevant macromolecules.