A primary screen for drugs to prevent transmission of Chagas's disease during blood transfusion

Abstract

This paper describes how Microslide tubes can be used as the basis for a quick, simple, inexpensive screen to test for compounds which might prevent the transmission of Chagas's disease as a result of blood transfusion. The test uses Trypanosoma cruzi-infected mouse blood and requires only very small amounts of compound. The screen identifies compounds known to be active against blood trypomastigotes in vitro at 4 degrees C, and is apparently free of false negative and positive results.