Gap junctions in the infectious process of Trypanosoma cruzi: a comparative study

Chagas disease is a pathology caused by the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi. It is known that such infection is capable of causing damage to the gap junctions, but its engines are not completely described. Therefore, the objective of the work is to review the literature as interactions of the protozoan Trypanossoma crossed in some cell lines, such as: cardiomyocytes, macrophages and adipocytes, with a focus on the changes caused in the class of connexins, especially in the connexin 43, and with the following threats in the intercellular communication of these strains. We have also a made quantitative survey was carried out of the studies selected for each strain. The methodology used was revisional, based on the databases: Portal Scopus CAPES, PubMed, SciELO and Google Scholar, in addition to epidemiological studies from the WHO and Fiocruz databases. The main results were those that show that the proposed cell types differ in how they present their changes in the face of T. cruzi infection, showing that these mechanisms are not well understood. It concludes that, there are not enough studies on the infection by T. cruzi and its effects on the communicating junctions in the different types of cells of the human body. Studies that could better clarify what are the roles of gap junctions and their mechanisms associated with this type of infection, which affects different systems and presents different modulations depending on the type of infected cell.