Immunological exhaustion and functional profile of CD8 + T lymphocytes as cellular biomarkers of therapeutic efficacy in chronic Chagas patients.

•CD8+ T cells undergo functional exhaustion during the chronic infection by T. cruzi.•The dysfunctional process is correlated to the progress of the pathology.•Benznidazole treatment partially reverses the exhaustion of CD8+ T cells.•The treatment induces an improvement of the multifunctional capacity of CD8+ T cells.