Extracellular vesicles in the context of chagas disease- A systematic review

Extracellular vesicle (EVs) traffic is considered an important cellular communication process between cells that can be part of a single organism or belong to different living beings. The relevance of EV-mediated cellular communication is increasingly studied and appreciated, especially in relation to pathological conditions, including parasitic disorders, in which the EV release and uptake processes have been documented. In the context of Chagas Disease (CD), EVs have been explored, however, current data have not been systematically revised in order to provide an overview of the published literature and the main results obtained thus far. In this systematic review, 25 studies involving the investigation of EVs in CD were identified. The studies involved Trypanosoma cruzi-derived EVs (Tc-EVs), as well as EVs derived from T. cruzi-infected mammalian cells, mainly isolated by ultracentrifugation and poorly characterized. The objectives of the identified studies included the character-ization of the protein and RNA cargo of Tc-EVs, as well as investigation of EVs in parasitic infections and immune-related processes. Overall, our systematic review reveals that EVs play critical roles in several mecha-nisms related to the interaction between T. cruzi and mammalian hosts, their contribution to immune system evasion by the parasite, and to chronic inflammation in the host. Future studies will benefit from the consoli-dation of isolation and characterization methods, as well as the elucidation of the role of EVs in CD.

Automated summary

Extracellular vesicle (EVs) traffic is an important cellular communication process between cells, which can occur within a single organism or between different organisms. The relevance of EV-mediated cellular communication is being increasingly studied, particularly in pathological conditions like parasitic disorders. In the context of Chagas Disease (CD), EVs have been explored, but a systematic review is lacking. This review identified 25 studies investigating EVs in CD, revealing their critical roles in the interaction between T. cruzi and mammalian hosts, immune system evasion, and chronic inflammation.