Reorganization of Extracellular Matrix in Placentas from Women with Asymptomatic Chagas Disease: Mechanism of Parasite Invasion or Local Placental Defense?
Figure 4
Placentas from mothers infected with T. cruzi present severe disorganization of chorionic villi ECM. Placental tissue from healthy noninfected (a–c) and infected (d–f) women were processed for routine histochemical methods and stained with the PAS method for the detection of glycosylated components (a, d) with the Arteta trichromic (b, e), and picrosirius red-hematoxylin (c, f) methods for collagen histochemistry. Placental chorionic villi from infected mothers show reduced staining of glycosylated molecules (d), especially in basal lamina (arrows) compared to controls (a). Samples from infected mothers also show reduced histochemical reaction for collagen in basal lamina (e) and in villous stroma (f) compared to controls (b, c). Bar scale: 20 μm.
