UNR researcher Evelyn Tevere studies the biology of the parasite responsible for the disease in order to then be able to design new vaccines, medications or treatments.

Chagas was discovered more than a century ago but it belongs to the group of “neglected diseases” because very few resources are allocated to its prevention, treatment and research. It is considered a disease of poverty and therefore unprofitable for the pharmaceutical industry.

This condition is the result of a complex health problem typical of socially determined diseases. It occurs in Latin America, mainly in Brazil and Argentina, and it is currently considered that there are about 7 million people infected worldwide.

Historically it was associated with life in the countryside and coexistence with the parasite. trypanosoma cruzi and its vector, the vinchuca. However, migration to cities displaced it to urban areas. The two main routes of transmission are vector, when the infected vinchuca bites a person, and vertical, when a pregnant mother passes the disease to her child.

Once it is detected, there are two drugs capable of killing the parasite but at the same time very toxic to humans: benznidazole and nifurtimox. In any case, in chronic forms, the parasite gets inside the cells and the drugs cannot reach it there. In fifty years no other drug was investigated or searched for.

UNR researcher Evelyn Tevere is dedicated to studying the biology of the parasite responsible for the disease. It is unable to produce a molecule essential for its development called heme, so it obtains it by “stealing it from its hosts,” she explains. In the laboratory she investigates how the parasite manages to capture, transport and use this molecule from its host.

“If the incorporation of that nutrient could be blocked, the parasite would not be able to live,” he says and believes that with this research it will be possible to evaluate chemotherapeutic targets for the design of drugs that will allow for new treatments in the future.

“First you have to know the basic biology of the parasite to then be able to design vaccines, medications or strategies,” says Evelyn, who has been dedicated to researching this topic in the laboratory for seven years. “I always had the idea of ​​giving back to society what the University had given me, so I decided to investigate a disease that is neglected and make a contribution to society.”

One of the most worrying characteristics of Chagas is its silent and chronic nature. Many infected people may not show symptoms for years or decades, making early detection and treatment difficult. However, the disease can cause serious long-term complications, such as heart and digestive problems, and can even be fatal if not treated properly.

It is named after Carlos Chagas, a Brazilian doctor and researcher who on April 14, 1909 diagnosed it in a person for the first time. For this reason, World Chagas Disease Day is celebrated every April 14.

Research in the country

Evelyn Tevere studied at the UNR Faculty of Biochemical Sciences and then completed her doctorate in Biological Sciences in the Biology and Biochemistry laboratory of trypanosoma cruzi of the IBR. In 2021 she won the Mobility Scholarship with a Gender Perspective awarded by the Ministry of Production, Science and Technology in conjunction with the Ministry of Equality, Gender and Diversity of the Province of Santa Fe.

This scholarship allowed him to carry out a research stay at the Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases at the University of Georgia, United States. There she spent 45 days working in the laboratory of Dr. Ronald Drew Etheridge on one of the pathways for heme incorporation, which is endocytosis.

With the experiments he did in the United States and those he had already been developing from his thesis, he published a paper in December of last year in the FEBS Journal magazine. Additionally, his research photo was chosen for the cover. This is a high-resolution image taken from a recent fluorescence microscopy technique in which one of the fellows from the North American laboratory specializes. He is currently doing his postdoc studying another heme-related protein.

Evelyn says that they are trying to banish the term “Chagas Disease” because it has a negative and stigmatizing connotation for the patient. It sounds like a curse and implies that it is something that is not known. But the truth is that currently in our country research is being done from many aspects. For example, some try to develop diagnostic kits, others study how the body responds immunologically to the disease or how it is transmitted from pregnant women to the baby.

What would you say to an aspiring researcher? “It is difficult but very rewarding when an experiment finally turns out well. After you have repeated it five times, when your publication is finally accepted, when you participate in a conference or you get a scholarship to travel abroad, those are the beautiful things about research. "Sometimes it is frustrating and even more so in this current context, but it is very rewarding to be able to discover what was not known and contribute something new."

He emphasizes that “it doesn't come out right away, you have to continue studying a lot, constantly updating yourself, reading the publications of colleagues to know what discoveries there were and also thinking about original ideas.”

Journalist: Victoria Arrabal/Photographer: Camila Casero