Investigation regarding the presence of Trypanosoma cruzi in triatomines and humans in rural households in the State of Paraná, southern Brazil

Trypanosoma cruzi, the etiologic agent of Chagas disease (CD), is transmitted by hematophagous insects belonging to the subfamily Triatominae. After elimination of Triatoma infestans, the infestation of human dwellings by secondary species of vectors continues to pose a risk of transmission of the parasite. Our aim was to investigate the T. cruzi presence in triatomines and humans in rural households in the State of Paraná, southern Brazil. The capture of the insects was carried out by technicians of the municipalities after residents reported the outbreak. Five residents and 27 triatomines captured in four municipalities in the North and Midwest of the state were evaluated. The research of T. cruzi was carried out using parasitological, serological, and molecular techniques, in human blood, excreta, intestinal contents and insect macerate. Panstrongylus megistus, P. geniculatus and Triatoma sp. were identified. Ten specimens of P. megistus were captured in a house in Mandaguari with five residents and presented an infection rate of 70% for T. cruzi like. All residents tested negative for T. cruzi infection. Another 15 P. megistus were captured in the peridomicile in Janiópolis and had 100.0% positivity. The only adult specimen of P. geniculatus captured in the intradomicile in Amaporã, as well as the nymph of Triatoma in the peridomicile in Paiçandu, were negative. The finding of P. megistus naturally infected by T. cruzi in households in rural area of Paraná demonstrates a potential risk of vector transmission of CD in these regions.

Download Full-text

Elucidating the Mechanism of Trypanosoma cruzi Acquisition by Triatomine Insects: Evidence from a Large Field Survey of Triatoma infestans

Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease ◽

10.3390/tropicalmed5020087 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 5 (2) ◽

pp. 87

Author(s):

Aaron W. Tustin ◽

Ricardo Castillo-Neyra ◽

Laura D. Tamayo ◽

Renzo Salazar ◽

Katty Borini-Mayorí ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Trypanosoma Cruzi ◽

Regression Models ◽

Control Strategies ◽

Protozoan Parasite ◽

Etiologic Agent ◽

Triatoma Infestans ◽

Large Field ◽

Blood Sucking ◽

Triatomine Bugs ◽

Cruzi Infection

Blood-sucking triatomine bugs transmit the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, the etiologic agent of Chagas disease. We measured the prevalence of T. cruzi infection in 58,519 Triatoma infestans captured in residences in and near Arequipa, Peru. Among bugs from infected colonies, T. cruzi prevalence increased with stage from 12% in second instars to 36% in adults. Regression models demonstrated that the probability of parasite acquisition was roughly the same for each developmental stage. Prevalence increased by 5.9% with each additional stage. We postulate that the probability of acquiring the parasite may be related to the number of feeding events. Transmission of the parasite does not appear to be correlated with the amount of blood ingested during feeding. Similarly, other hypothesized transmission routes such as coprophagy fail to explain the observed pattern of prevalence. Our results could have implications for the feasibility of late-acting control strategies that preferentially kill older insects.

Download Full-text

Trypanosoma cruzi VECTOR INFECTION RATE IS UNDERESTIMATED IN SOME LOCALITIES IN THE STATE OF BAHIA

Revista de Patologia Tropical / Journal of Tropical Pathology ◽

10.5216/rpt.v45i1.39979 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 45 (1) ◽

pp. 55 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Juciliane Haidamak ◽

Márcia Kiyoe Shimada ◽

Débora do Rocio Klisiowicz ◽

Larissa Reifur

Keyword(s):

Trypanosoma Cruzi ◽

Infection Rate ◽

The State ◽

Triatoma Infestans

A Bahia foi o último estado brasileiro a ser declarado livre da transmissão da doença deChagas pelo Triatoma infestans em 2006. O programa designado para controle vetorial da transmissão da doença de Chagas está atualmente ativo, e os potenciais triatomíneos coletados por funcionários do Departamento da Saúde do Estado da Bahia são praticamente todos diagnosticados como negativos para Trypanosoma cruzi quando analisados pelo método parasitológico convencional direto. O objetivo deste estudo foi investigar se os triatomíneos da Bahia, de fato, não estão infectados por T. cruzi, utilizando-se, para isso, uma metodologia de diagnóstico mais sensível, como a reação em cadeia da polimerase do DNA do cinetoplasto (kDNA-PCR). Com a ajuda dos funcionários da área da saúde, foram analisados 51 triatomíneos provenientes de áreas do peridomicílio da região centro-norte do estado da Bahia.Dos insetos analisados, a maioria (60,8%) era Triatoma brasiliensis, 29,4% eram Triatoma pseudomaculata e 9,8% eram ninfas que não foram identificadas. Apenas um inseto, analisado pelo método parasitológico convencional direto, mostrou-se potencialmente positivo para T. cruzi e 31,4% foram positivos para T. cruzi pela kDNA-PCR. Quase a metade dos insetos infectados (41,9%) era constituída por T. brasiliensis, uma espécie com alto potencial para a transmissão de T. cruzi. Estes resultados demonstram que o número de triatomíneos infectados com elevado potencial de transmissão de T. cruzi pode ser maior do que o esperado em quatro localidades do estado da Bahia.

Download Full-text

Seroprevalence of Trypanosoma cruzi infection among blood donors in the state of Bahia, Brazil

Revista da Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical ◽

10.1590/0037-8682-0146-2019 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 52 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Diego Lopes Paim Miranda ◽

Gilmar Ribeiro Jr ◽

Fernanda Cardoso Lanza ◽

Fred Luciano Neves Santos ◽

Renato Barbosa Reis ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Trypanosoma Cruzi ◽

Blood Donors ◽

The State ◽

Cruzi Infection

Download Full-text

Characteristics of Triatomine infestation and natural Trypanosoma cruzi infection in the State of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil

Revista da Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical ◽

10.1590/0037-8682-0300-2015 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 49 (1) ◽

pp. 57-67 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Andressa Noronha Barbosa-Silva ◽

Antonia Cláudia Jácome da Câmara ◽

Kiev Martins ◽

Daniela Ferreira Nunes ◽

Pedro Igor Câmara de Oliveira ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Trypanosoma Cruzi ◽

Rio Grande ◽

The State ◽

Cruzi Infection

Download Full-text

Influence of Trypanosoma cruzi (Kinetoplastida: Trypanosomatidae) Infection on Mortality of the Sylvatic Triatomine Vector, Mepraia spinolai (Heteroptera: Reuviidae), Under Fasting

Journal of Medical Entomology ◽

10.1093/jme/tjz124 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 56 (5) ◽

pp. 1384-1388

Author(s):

Vanessa Garcia ◽

Johsmar Graterol ◽

Angélica López ◽

Sylvia Ortiz ◽

Aldo Solari

Keyword(s):

Trypanosoma Cruzi ◽

Parasitic Infection ◽

Etiologic Agent ◽

Detection Level ◽

Fasting Period ◽

Fecal Samples ◽

Disease Vector ◽

Cruzi Infection ◽

Hematophagous Insect ◽

Blood Meals

Abstract The etiologic agent of Chagas disease, Trypanosoma cruzi, is transmitted by hematophagous insect vectors that subsist on repeated blood meals over their lives separated by periods of fasting. Using naturally infected Mepraia spinolai, we measured the influence of parasite infection on this host vector’s mortality during regular feeding and after fasting. After their capture, the insects were fed twice with uninfected mice to evaluate parasitic infection in their fecal samples by microscopic observation and PCR. Then the insects were subjected to a fasting period, followed by a third (final) feeding. After each feeding, a fecal sample was obtained to evaluate T. cruzi infection. To determine its progress through ontogeny, mortality and ecdysis of the infected and uninfected nymphs and adults were recorded on three occasions, over 140 d, and analyzed. Detections of infection by T. cruzi between the two first feedings increased, but this detection level was generally reduced after final feeding unless reinfected. For nymphs (stages III–V), their mortality was highest when infected after the fasting period, whereas adults were equally resistant to death after fasting when infected with T. cruzi. Metacyclic trypomastigotes were principally excreted in the fecal samples. Our results confirm that T. cruzi is pathogenic to its invertebrate hosts under nutritional stress conditions, when nymphs’ mortality is higher while infected than uninfected when they were hungry. These results are epidemiologically important because T. cruzi harms the fasting vector M. spinolai, reducing its lifespan and competence as a disease vector, and thereby its rates of parasite transmission.

Download Full-text

Trypanosoma cruzi infection in Didelphis marsupialis in Santa Catarina and Arvoredo Islands, southern Brazil

Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz ◽

10.1590/s0074-02762000000600008 ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 95 (6) ◽

pp. 795-800 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Edmundo C Grisard ◽

Carlos J Carvalho-Pinto ◽

Afonso F Scholz ◽

Helena K Toma ◽

Bruno R Schlemper Jr ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Trypanosoma Cruzi ◽

Southern Brazil ◽

Santa Catarina ◽

Cruzi Infection

Download Full-text

1357. A Combination of Itraconazole and Amiodarone Is Highly Effective Against Trypanosoma cruzi Infection of Human Stem Cell-Derived Cardiomyocytes

Open Forum Infectious Diseases ◽

10.1093/ofid/ofy210.1188 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 5 (suppl_1) ◽

pp. S415-S416

Author(s):

Gabriele Sass ◽

Roy Madigan ◽

Adriana Bozzi ◽

Nazish Sayed ◽

Joseph Wu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Trypanosoma Cruzi ◽

Chagas Disease ◽

Cell Metabolism ◽

Vero Cells ◽

The United States ◽

Etiologic Agent ◽

Sterol Synthesis ◽

Xtt Assay ◽

Cruzi Infection

Abstract Background Trypanosoma cruzi is the etiologic agent of Chagas disease, which can result in severe cardiomyopathy. Trypanosoma cruzi is endemic to the Americas, and of particular importance in Latin America. In the United States and other nonendemic countries, rising case numbers have been observed. The only drugs available so far are benznidazole and nifurtimox, which have limited efficacy during chronic infection. We repurposed itraconazole, originally an antifungal, in combination with amiodarone, an antiarrhythmic, with the goal to interfere with Tc infection. Both drugs inhibit sterol synthesis, while amiodarone also inhibits calcium metabolism of Trypanosoma cruzi. Methods Human pluripotent stem cells (HiPSC) were differentiated to cardiomyocytes (HiPSC-CM). Vero cells or HiPSC-CM were infected with the T. cruzi trypomastigotes Y strain in the presence of itraconazole and/or amiodarone. After 48 hours, infection and multiplication were evaluated by Giemsa stain. Benznidazole was used as a reference compound. Cell viability was verified by XTT assay. Results Itraconazole and amiodarone showed dose-dependent interference with T. cruzi infection of Vero cells or HiPSC-CM. The combination of itraconazole and amiodarone was more potent than the single substances, or benznidazole at therapeutic concentrations, without affecting host cell metabolism. In addition to effects on infection, itraconazole, or amiodarone affected T. cruzi multiplication. Here, itraconazole/amiodarone combinations were more potent than either alone, both, in Vero cells, and HiPSC-CM. Conclusion Our in vitro data suggest that a combination of itraconazole and amiodarone might serve as an effective new treatment option for Chagas disease, particularly cardiac involvement, in human and animal patients. Disclosures All authors: No reported disclosures.

Download Full-text