by Saade U, de Boer J, Scandale I, Altcheh J, Pottel H, Chatelain E, Zrein M. Nature Communications 2024,15:10530. doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-54910-x
Summary: Currently available drugs for Chagas disease, nifurtimox and benznidazole, have not been sufficiently evaluated for efficacy in adult patients. A key challenge is the lack of markers for parasitological cure, which also precludes the development of new treatments. We urgently need a practical method to assess drug performance within a short timeframe. The authors of this manuscript conducted a retrospective analysis of the BENDITA trial. They report the potential of a serological multiplex method (MultiCruzi), combined with advanced statistical analysis, to measure the response to anti-parasitic treatment of adult Chagas patients. This enabled them to predict treatment efficacy after just 6 months of follow-up. The authors propose integrating MultiCruzi as a serological method endpoint in proof-of-concept clinical trials for Chagas disease.
