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Trypanosoma cruzi trypomastigotes continuously shed into the medium plasma membrane fragments sealed as vesicles enriched in glycoproteins of the gp85 and trans-sialidase (TS) superfamily and α-galactosyl-containing glycoconjugates. Injection of a vesicle fraction into BALB/c mice prior to T. cruzi infection led to 40% of deaths on the 16thday post-infection and 100% on day 20th whereas 20% of untreated animals survived for more than 30days. The vesicle-treated animals developed severe heart pathology, with intense inflammatory reaction and higher number of amastigote nests. Analysis of the inflammatory infiltrates 15days after infection showed predominance of TCD4⁺ lymphocytes and macrophages, but not of TCD8⁺ cells, as well as a decrease of areas labeled with anti-iNOS antibodies as compared to the control. Higher levels of IL-4 and IL-10 mRNAs were found in the hearts and higher IL-10 and …