Potential Role of Antioxidants as Adjunctive Therapy in Chagas Disease

Table 1

Evidence supporting antioxidant use in Chagas disease as revealed by research in animal models.

Reference #	Author, year	Experimental model	Age in weeks	T. cruzi strain (trypomastigotes challenge dose)	Treatment	Antioxidant/oxidative stress markers	Tissue samples
[94]	Horta et al., 2018	C57BL/6 male mice	8-10	Colombian (50)	benznidazole for 23 days by gavage	SOD and CAT activity, TBARS, protein carbonyls	Heart
[52]	Castanheira et al., 2018	Swiss SWR/J male mice	3.5	QM2 (5 × 10^4)	500 mg/day vitamin C for 60 days in drinking water	FRAP, GSH, GST, plasma sulfhydryl (SH) group, nitrate/nitrite	Plasma, heart, colon, skeletal muscle
[58]	Providello et al., 2018	Swiss SWR/J male mice	6	Y (1 × 10^4)	benznidazole for 15 days by gavage	TBARS ROS	Heart, macrophages
[56]	Contreras-Ortiz et al., 2017	BALB/c female mice	4-6	Ninoa (10)	nifurtimox for 60 days orally	MDA	Heart, spleen, blood
[90]	Montenote et al., 2017	Swiss SWR/J male mice	3	QM2 (5 × 10^4)	20% blackberry plant extract (25-75 μl/day) 180 days orally	TBARS, FRAP, GSH, and sulfhydryl groups	Plasma
[53]	Tieghi et al., 2017	Swiss SWR/J male mice	3	QM2 (5 × 10^4)	500 mg/day vitamin C and 800 IU/day vitamin E (individually and in combination) for 60 days or 120 days	FRAP, GSH, TBARS	Plasma, heart, colon, and skeletal muscle
[48]	Novaes et al., 2017	Swiss SWR/J male mice	52	Y (2 × 10^3)	500 mg/day vitamin C/800 UI/day vitamin E for 15 days orally	TBARS, PCN, catalase, GST and SOD activities, nitrite/nitrate, 8-OHdG	Heart
[69]	Vilar-Pereira et al., 2016	BALB/c male & female mice	5-7	Colombian (2 × 10^2)	15 mg/kg trans-resveratrol (i.p.) or 40 mg/kg resveratrol, 500 mg/kg metformin, 100 mg/kg/Tempol, or 25 mg/kg benznidazole for 30 days (per orally)	TBARS	Heart
[55]	Novaes et al., 2016	SWR/J female mice	8-12	Y (2 × 10^3)	for 20 days by gavage, C100 (±B50-B100), B50-B100 only (mg/kg/day)	MDA and PCN	Heart, liver
[54]	Brazao et al., 2015	Wistar male rats	NR	Y (1 × 10^5)	5 mg/kg melatonin/day for 60 days orally	Nitrite production in macrophages; TBARS in plasma	Plasma, spleen
[60]	Marim et al., 2015	SWR/J male mice	3	QM1 (5 × 10^4)	10 μl vitamin C (D60 mg or D500 mg) per day for 60 days or 180 days orally	TBARS, total peroxide, GSH	Plasma, heart, colon, skeletal muscle
[84]	Nagajyothi et al., 2012	CD1 mice	6-8	Brazil (5 × 10^4)	100 mg/kg/day curcumin for 35 days orally	mRNA levels of enzymes/proteins	Heart
[64]	Wen and Garg, 2012	Sprague Dawley rats	4–5	Sylvio ×10 (5 × 10^4)	1.3 mM PBN and/or 0.7 mM benznidazole for three weeks in drinking water	PCN	Heart, heart mitochondria
[51]	Wen et al., 2010	Sprague Dawley rats	4–5	Sylvio ×10 (5 × 10^4)	1.3 mM PBN and/or 0.7 mM benznidazole for three weeks in drinking water	ROS, TBARS	Heart, heart mitochondria
[89]	Francisco et al., 2010	SWR/J male mice	4	Y (5 × 10^2)	5 mg/50 μl/day desferrioxamine (i.p.) 14 days prior to infection and for 21 days i.p.	GSH, TBARS, PCN, nitrate/nitrite	Serum, liver
[50]	Wen et al., 2006	C57BL/6 mice	6-8	Sylvio ×10 (1 × 10^4)	50 mg/kg PBN (i.p.) on alternate days for three weeks	Respiratory complex activities, MDA, GSH, ATP, H2O2	Heart, heart mitochondria

Cv: carvedilol; SOD: superoxide dismutase; CAT: catalase; MDA: malondialdehyde; GSH: glutathione; GST: glutathione S-transferase; FRAP: plasma antioxidant capacity; TBARS: thiobarbituric acid reactive substances; PCN: protein carbonyl levels; PBN: phenyl-alfa-tert-butyl nitrone; B100: 100 mg/kg of body weight benznidazole; B50: 50 mg/kg benznidazole; C100: 100 mg/kg curcumin; dpi: days postinfection.