African trypanosomiasis - T30725

Trypanosoma brucei, the parasite responsible for African trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness), are spread by the tsetse fly in sub-Saharan Africa. The parasites are able to pass through the blood-brain barrier and cause neurological damage by inducing cytokines like TNF alpha, IFN gamma, and IL1. These cytokines and other metabolites such as nitric oxide and somnogenic prostaglandin D2 disturb circadian rhythms in patients with African trypanosomiasis.