PCR diagnosis and characterization of Leishmania in local and imported clinical samples.

No Brasil, a importância da leishmaniose visceral reside nao somente na sua alta incidencia e ampla distribuicao, mas tambem na possibilidade de assumir formas graves e letais quando associada ao quadro de ma nutricao e infeccoes concomitantes. A crescente urbanizacao da doenca ocorrida nos ultimos 20 anos coloca em pauta a discussao das estrategias de controle empregadas. Neste artigo foram analisados os principais aspectos biologicos, ambientais e sociais que influenciaram no processo de expansao e urbanizacao dos focos da doenca. Os metodos disponiveis para o diagnostico e tratamento nao apresentam a eficacia e aplicabilidade desejadas, embora avancos promissores tenham sido alcancados com as pesquisas de novos testes diagnosticos e drogas terapeuticas. As medidas de controle da doenca ate agora implementadas foram incapazes de eliminar a transmissao e impedir a ocorrencia de novas epidemias. E feita uma breve analise destas medidas e dos desafios a serem enfrentados. A prevencao da doenca nos caes atraves da imunoprofilaxia aparece como uma alternativa para o controle. Uma nova vacina para caes, ja testada em campo, esta sendo industrializada e sera comercializada no Brasil a partir de 2004. Apesar da existencia de inumeros estudos sobre a leishmaniose visceral humana e canina, muitas lacunas ainda precisam ser preenchidas.

/pdf/leishmaniose-visceral-no-brasil-quadro-atual-desafios-e-1ma5a9f3tq.pdf

Leishmaniose visceral no Brasil: quadro atual, desafios e perspectivas

Infectivity of seropositive dogs, showing different clinical forms of leishmaniasis, to Lutzomyia longipalpis phlebotomine sand flies

The purpose of this study was to determine the serological and molecular prevalence of Bartonella spp. infection in a sick dog population from Brazil. At the Sao Paulo State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital in Botucatu, 198 consecutive dogs with clinicopathological abnor- malities consistent with tick-borne infections were sampled. Antibodies to Bartonella henselae and Bartonella vinsonii subsp. berkhoffii were detected in 2.0% (4/197) and 1.5% (3/197) of the dogs, respectively. Using 16S-23S rRNA intergenic transcribed spacer (ITS) primers, Bartonella DNA was amplified from only 1/198 blood samples. Bartonella seroreactive and/or PCR positive blood samples (n = 8) were inoculated into a liquid pre-enrichment growth medium (BAPGM) and sub- sequently sub-inoculated onto BAPGM/blood-agar plates. PCR targeting the ITS region, pap31 and rpoB genes amplified B. henselae from the blood and/or isolates of the PCR positive dog (ITS: DQ346666; pap31 gene: DQ351240; rpoB: EF196806). B. henselae and B. vinsonii subsp. berkhof- fii (pap31: DQ906160; rpoB: EF196805) co-infection was found in one of the B. vinsonii subsp. berkhoffii seroreactive dogs. We conclude that dogs in this study population were infrequently ex- posed to or infected with a Bartonella species. The B. henselae and B. vinsonii subsp. berkhoffii strains identified in this study are genetically similar to strains isolated from septicemic cats, dogs, coyotes and human beings from other parts of the world. To our knowledge, these isolates provide the first Brazilian DNA sequences from theseBartonella species and the first evidence of Bartonella co-infection in dogs. dogs / Bartonella infections / heart disease / culture / Brazil

/pdf/canine-bartonellosis-serological-and-molecular-prevalence-in-4696gps802.pdf

Canine bartonellosis: serological and molecular prevalence in Brazil and evidence of co-infection with Bartonella henselae and Bartonella vinsonii subsp. berkhoffii.

https://www.repositorio.ufop.br/bitstream/123456789/1031/1/ARTIGO_ComparisonSerologicalAssays.pdf

Comparison of serological assays for the diagnosis of canine visceral leishmaniasis in animals presenting different clinical manifestations

In the last few years the number of human cases of American visceral leishmaniasis in the Metropolitan Region of Belo Horizonte (MRBH), Minas Gerais, Brazil has increased, indicating an elevation in the transmission rate of the disease. The total number of notified human cases in the MRBH since 1994, when the first case was identified, up to 1999 was 345 of which 223 (65%) were from the city itself, indicating an urbanization of the disease in this region of Minas Gerais. The age distribution of visceral leishmaniasis cases in the MRBH shows a higher prevalence in children from 0-4 years old, responsible for 28.9% of the notifications. Clinical and immunological findings from dogs infected with Leishmania chagasi are described. The majority of these animals showed no sign of the disease. Sera from all infected dogs showed detectable Leishmania-induced high titles of antibodies based on the results of an indirect fluorescent antibody test. Samples of isolated Leishmania from human and dogs were characterized as L. (L.) chagasi by biochemical and molecular techniques.

/pdf/visceral-leishmaniasis-in-the-metropolitan-region-of-belo-5b2p3v1xxh.pdf

Vanessa O.P Fiuza

Papers

Visceral leishmaniasis in the Metropolitan Region of Belo Horizonte, State of Minas Gerais, Brazil.