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Background: Hypereosinophilic syndrome can produce cardiac involvement and endomyocardial fibrosis, which have a poor prognosis. However, there is limited information regarding cardiac involvement among migrants from Latin America with eosinophilia related to helminthiasis. Methods: We conducted a pilot observational study where an echocardiography was performed on migrants from Latin America with both eosinophilia (>450 cells/μL) and a diagnosis of helminth infection, and on migrants from Latin America without eosinophilia or helminth infection. Microbiological techniques included a stool microscopic examination using the Ritchie's formalin-ether technique, and a specific serology to detect Strongyloides stercoralis antibodies. Results: 37 participants were included, 20 with eosinophilia and 17 without eosinophilia. Twenty (54.1%) were men with a mean age of 41.3 (SD 14.3) years. Helminthic infections diagnosed in the group with eosinophilia were: 17 cases of S. stercoralis infection, 1 case of hookworm infection, and 2 cases of S. stercoralis and hookworm coinfection. Among participants with eosinophilia, echocardiographic findings revealed a greater right ventricle thickness (p = 0.001) and left atrial area and volume index (p = 0.003 and p = 0.004, respectively), while showing a lower left atrial strain (p = 0.006) and E-wave deceleration time (p = 0.008). An increase was shown in both posterior and anterior mitral leaflet thickness (p = 0.0014 and p = 0.004, respectively) when compared with participants without eosinophilia. Conclusions: Migrants from Latin America with eosinophilia related to helminthic infections might present incipient echocardiographic alterations suggestive of early diastolic dysfunction, that could be related to eosinophilia-induced changes in the endomyocardium. Author summary: A recent study in migrants from Sub-Saharan Africa with eosinophilia related to helminth infection describes initial findings on cardiac ultrasound in the form of thickening of the posterior leaflet of the mitral valve, but with no clinical manifestations, representing the early stage of the endomyocardial fibrosis process. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the relationship between eosinophilia secondary to helminth infection and cardiac involvement in Latin American patients. In our cohort, eosinophilia in patients was mainly due to Strongyloides stercoralis infection. Among patients with eosinophilia, echocardiographic findings revealed a greater right ventricle thickness and left atrial area and volume index, while showing a lower left atrial strain and E-wave deceleration time when compared with patients without eosinophilia. These alterations are suggestive of early diastolic dysfunction that could be related to eosinophilia-induced changes in the endomyocardium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Host genetic factors have been suggested to play an important role in the susceptibility to Chagas disease. Given the influence of interleukin 18 (IL-18) in the development of the disease, in the present study, we analyzed three IL18 genetic variants (rs2043055, rs1946518, rs360719) regarding the predisposition to Trypanosoma cruzi infection and the development of chronic Chagas cardiomyopathy (CCC), in different Latin America populations. Genetic data of 3,608 patients from Colombia, Bolivia, Argentina, and Brazil were meta-analyzed to validate previous findings with increased statistical power. Seropositive and seronegative individuals were compared for T. cruzi infection susceptibility. In the Colombian cohort, the allelic frequencies of the three variants showed a significant association, with adjustment for sex and age, and also after applying multiple testing adjustments. Among the Colombian and Argentinean cohorts, rs360719 showed a significant genetic effect in a fixed-effects meta-analysis after a Bonferroni correction (OR: 0.76, CI: 0.66–0.89, P = 0.001). For CCC, the rs2043055 showed an association with protection from cardiomyopathy in the Colombian cohort (OR: 0.79, CI: 0.64–0.99, P = 0.037), with adjustment for sex and age, and after applying multiple testing adjustments. The meta-analysis of the CCC vs. asymptomatic patients from the four cohorts showed no evidence of association. In conclusion, our results validated the association found previously in the Colombian cohort suggesting that IL18 rs360719 plays an important role in the susceptibility to T. cruzi infection and no evidence of association was found between the IL18 genetic variants and CCC in the Latin American population studied. Author summary: Chagas disease is a parasitic infection caused by the protozoon Trypanosoma cruzi, is the third most common parasitic infection worldwide, the most important in Latin America and is an emerging disease in non-endemic countries. Actually, millions of people live in areas of exposure and are at risk of contracting the infection. Most of the infected individuals remain asymptomatic for all of their lives, but around 30% of the chronically infected individuals develop irreversible cardiac damage and 10% digestive lesions. Host genetic factors have been suggested to play an important role in the susceptibility or resistance to Chagas disease. In this work, we investigated variants of the IL18 gene in different Latin America populations. This gene encoded the interleukin-18, which is involved in the immune response to intracellular pathogens like T. cruzi. Our results showed that an IL18 gene variant plays an important role in the protection against T. cruzi infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to describe and compare the clinical characteristics of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 pneumonia according to their geographical origin. This is a retrospective case-control study of hospitalized patients with confirmed COVID-19 pneumonia treated at Vall d'Hebron University Hospital (Barcelona) during the first wave of the pandemic. Cases were defined as patients born in Latin America and controls were randomly selected among Spanish patients matched by age and gender. Demographic and clinical variables were collected, including comorbidities, symptoms, vital signs and analytical parameters, intensive care unit admission and outcome at 28 days after admission. Overall, 1080 hospitalized patients were registered: 774 (71.6%) from Spain, 142 (13.1%) from Latin America and the rest from other countries. Patients from Latin America were considered as cases and 558 Spanish patients were randomly selected as controls. Latin American patients had a higher proportion of anosmia, rhinorrhea and odynophagia, as well as higher mean levels of platelets and lower mean levels of ferritin than Spanish patients. No differences were found in oxygen requirement and mortality at 28 days after admission, but there was a higher proportion of ICU admissions (28.2% vs. 20.2%, p = 0.0310). An increased proportion of ICU admissions were found in patients from Latin America compared with native Spanish patients when adjusted by age and gender, with no significant differences in in-hospital mortality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the present study was to analyze IL6 rs1800795 genetic variant in the susceptibility to Trypanosoma cruzi infection and in the development of chronic Chagas cardiomyopathy (CCC), in five independent Latin American cohorts. A total of 3,087 individuals from Latin American countries (Argentina, Bolivia, Peru, and two cohorts from Colombia) were studied. In all cohorts, patients were classified as seropositive for T. cruzi antigens (n= 1,963) and seronegative (n= 1,124). Based on clinical evaluation, the seropositive patients, were classified as CCC (n= 900) and asymptomatic (n= 1,063). No statistically significant differences in the frequency of IL6 rs1800795 between seropositive and seronegative, or between CCC and asymptomatic patients, were found. Furthermore, after the meta-analysis no statistically significant differences were observed. Our results do not support a contribution of IL6 rs1800795 genetic variant in the susceptibility to the infection and the development of chronic Chagas cardiomyopathy in the studied populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]