Clonally expanded B cell populations are a distinguishing feature of chronic Chagas cardiomyopathy

Clonally expanded B cells are found in the hearts of patients with advanced chronic Chagas cardiomyopathy, where they co-localize with established fibrosis and are largely absent in non-Chagas dilated cardiomyopathy.

• Why it matters: Chronic Chagas cardiomyopathy develops in 20-30% of infected people decades after infection, yet the immune mechanisms driving progression are poorly understood.
• What they did: The study used peripheral blood transcriptomics to find progression-linked signatures, then applied spatial transcriptomics, targeted BCR sequencing, and cardiac immunofluorescence to characterize B cell populations in heart tissue.
• The result: Circulating B cell clonal expansion signatures preceded progression to late-stage disease, and the cardiac B cell niche suggests clonally expanded B cells may distinguish CCC in the heart.

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