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As an intracellular parasite, Trypanosoma cruzi is exposed to reactive oxygen species. The study of the proteins involved in the hydroperoxide detoxification cascade, tryparedoxin peroxidase included, may lead to the development of a more specific chemotherapy for Chagas’disease. In this work, the involvement of TcCPX in T. cruzi resistance to oxidant-mediated injury was investigated. At low concentrations of hydrogen peroxide cell proliferation was stimulated and parasites increased their resistance to sub-lethal doses of H₂O₂ (100 μM) if previously treated with a non-toxic concentration of H₂O₂ (20 μM). Incubation of cells with different H₂O₂ concentrations induced a dose-dependent increase in TcCPX levels, as detected by Western blotting analysis. The increase in TcCPX levels in the presence of high H₂O₂ concentrations possibly reflects an initial cell attempt to promote detoxification. To further …