Thursday, May 7, 2009

What's new for 'Trypanosomatids' in PubMed

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Sent on Thursday, 2009 May 07
Search kinetoplastids OR kinetoplastid OR Kinetoplastida OR "trypanosoma brucei" OR leishmania OR brucei OR leishmaniasis OR "African trypanosomiasis"
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PubMed Results
Items 1 -7 of 7

1: Saudi Med J. 2009 May;30(5):722.

Concern regarding the differential diagnosis of leishmaniasis.

Arya SC, Agarwal N, Niscola P.

Sant Parmanand Hospital, Delhi, India.

PMID: 19417980 [PubMed - in process]

2: Parasitology. 2009 May 6:1-13. [Epub ahead of print]

Searching for virulence factors in the non-pathogenic parasite to humans Leishmania tarentolae.

Azizi H, Hassani K, Taslimi Y, Shateri Najafabadi H, Papadopoulou B, Rafati S.

Molecular Immunology and Vaccine Research Laboratory, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran.

SUMMARYLeishmania protozoa are obligate intracellular parasites that reside in the phagolysosome of host macrophages and cause a large spectrum of pathologies to humans known as leishmaniases. The outcome of the disease is highly dependent on the parasite species and on its ascribed virulence factors and the immune status of the host. Characterization of the genome composition of non-pathogenic species could ultimately open new horizons in Leishmania developmental biology and also the disease monitoring. Here, we provide evidence that the lizard non-pathogenic to humans Leishmania tarentolae species expresses an Amastin-like gene, cysteine protease B (CPB), lipophosphoglycan LPG3 and the leishmanolysin GP63, genes well-known for their potential role in the parasite virulence. These genes were expressed at levels comparable to those in L. major and L. infantum both at the level of mRNA and protein. Alignment of the L. tarentolae proteins with their counterparts in the pathogenic species demonstrated that the degree of similarity varied from 59% and 60% for Amastin, 89% for LPG3 and 71% and 68% for CPB, in L. major and L. infantum, respectively. Interestingly, the A2 gene, expressed specifically by the L. donovani complex which promotes visceralization, was absent in L. tarentolae. These findings suggest that the lack of pathogenicity in L. tarentolae is not associated with known virulence genes such as LPG3, CPB, GP63 and Amastin, and that other factors either unique to L. tarentolae or missing from this species may be responsible for the non-pathogenic potential of this lizard parasite.

PMID: 19416551 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

3: Traffic. 2009 Mar 17. [Epub ahead of print]

The Single ENTH-Domain Protein of Trypanosomes; Endocytic Functions and Evolutionary Relationship with Epsin.

Gabernet-Castello C, Dacks JB, Field MC.

Department of Pathology, University of Cambridge, Tennis Court Road, Cambridge, CB2 1QP, UK.

Epsin N-terminal homology (ENTH) domains occur in proteins of either the epsin or epsin-related (epsinR) form. They principally function in clathrin-mediated trafficking and membrane deformation. Both epsin and epsinR possess clathrin-binding motifs, but only epsin incorporates a ubiquitin-interaction motif (UIM). To better understand the origins of ENTH-domain proteins and their functions, we performed detailed comparative genomics and phylogenetics on the epsin family. The epsin ENTH-UIM configuration is an architecture restricted to yeast and animals. Further, we undertook functional analysis in Trypanosoma brucei (T. brucei), a divergent organism possessing a single ENTH-domain protein (TbEpsinR). TbEpsinR has a cellular location similar to both epsin and epsinR at plasma membrane clathrin budding sites and endosomal compartments, and associates with clathrin, as demonstrated by coimmunoprecipitation. Knockdown of TbEpsinR leads to a significant decrease in the intracellular pools of multiple surface antigens, without affecting bulk membrane internalization. Therefore, despite lacking the UIM, TbEpsinR maintains a similar role to metazoan epsin in endocytosis and participates as a clathrin-associated adaptor. We suggest that recruitment of a UIM to the ENTH-domain proteins was not essential for participation in endocytosis of ubiquitylated molecules, and is presumably a specific innovation restricted to higher eukaryotes.

PMID: 19416477 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

4: Clin Microbiol Infect. 2009 Mar 26. [Epub ahead of print]

Ehrlichia canis and Leishmania infantum co-infection: a 3-year longitudinal study in naturally exposed dogs.

Mekuzas Y, Gradoni L, Oliva G, Foglia Manzillo V, Baneth G.

School of Veterinary Medicine, Hebrew University, Rehovot, Israel.

PMID: 19416288 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

5: Rev Soc Bras Med Trop. 2008 Nov-Dec;41(6):683-5.Click here to read LinkOut

[Report on natural infection of bats by trypanosomatid flagellates in different municipalities in the State of Rio de Janeiro]

[Article in Portuguese]

Barros JH, Romijn PC, Baptista C, Pinto AG, Madeira Mde F.

Laboratório de Vigilância em Leishmanioses, Instituto de Pesquisa Clínica Evandro Chagas, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil. juliana.helena@ipec.fiocruz.br

This study aimed to evaluate natural infection of bats by trypanosomatids. Using blood culturing, 86 specimens from different genera were examined, and 22 samples (25.58%) of Desmodus rotundus and Lonchorhina aurita were isolated. These results contribute towards knowledge of the occurrence of trypanosomatids in bats in the State of Rio de Janeiro.

PMID: 19142454 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

6: Rev Soc Bras Med Trop. 2008 Nov-Dec;41(6):615-20.Click here to read LinkOut

[Neonatal screening for congenital Chagas infection: application of latent class analysis for diagnostic test evaluation]

[Article in Portuguese]

Andrade AQ, Gontijo ED.

Médico e Mestre em Ciência da Informação, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil. andrade.andreq@gmail.com

The present study had the aim of evaluating conventional serum tests that are used in neonatal screening for Chagas disease, with a discussion on the statistical methods available. A random sample among 23,308 newborns who were screened for congenital Chagas disease was studied using the following three tests: enzyme immunoassay, indirect immunofluorescence and indirect hemagglutination. The data were analyzed by different statistical methodologies: latent class analysis, Kappa test and relative sensitivity analysis. Using latent class analysis, enzyme immunoassay had the highest sensitivity (48.6%), followed by indirect immunofluorescence (39.8%) and indirect hemagglutination (23.2%). The kappa value was 0.496. The ratio between the sensitivities of enzyme immunoassays and indirect immunofluorescence tests was 92% [0.74;1.13]. Latent class analysis was not found to be adequate for sensitivity and specificity determination, but it provided important data about the equivalence of the tests, corroborated by relative sensitivity analysis. The results showed that enzyme immunoassaying of dry blood samples can be used as safely as the indirect immunofluorescence test.

PMID: 19142441 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

7: Rev Soc Bras Med Trop. 2008 Nov-Dec;41(6):602-14.Click here to read LinkOut

[Acute phase of Chagas disease in the Brazilian Amazon region: study of 233 cases from Pará, Amapá and Maranhão observed between 1988 and 2005]

[Article in Portuguese]

Pinto AY, Valente SA, Valente Vda C, Ferreira Junior AG, Coura JR.

Instituto Evandro Chagas, Belém, PA, Brazil. ayece@iec.pa.gov.br

Two hundred and thirty-three cases of the acute phase of Chagas disease, from Pará, Amapá and Maranhão, were observed between 1988 and 2005. One hundred and sixty were studied retrospectively from 1988 to 2002 and seventy-three were prospectively followed up from 2003 to 2005. Among the cases studied, 78.5% (183/233) formed part of outbreaks, probably due to oral transmission (affecting a mean of 4 individuals), and 21.5% (50/233) were isolated cases. Cases were taken to be acute if they presented positive direct parasitological tests (fresh blood, thick drop or Quantitative Buffy Coat, QBC) and/or positive anti Trypanosoma cruzi IgM. Xenodiagnosis was also performed on 224 patients and blood culturing on 213. All the patients had clinical and epidemiological evaluations. The most frequent clinical manifestations were fever (100%), headache (92.3%), myalgia (84.1%), pallor (67%), dyspnea (58.4%), swelling of the legs (57.9%), facial edema (57.5%), abdominal pain (44.3%), myocarditis (39.9%) and exanthema (27%). The electrocardiogram showed abnormalities of ventricular repolarization in 38.5%, low QRS voltage in 15.4%, left-axis deviation in 11.5%, ventricular ectopic beats in 5.8%, bradycardia in 5.8%, tachycardia in 5.8%, right branch block in 4.8% and atrial fibrillation in 4.8%. The most frequently observed abnormality on the echocardiogram was pericardial effusion, in 46.2% of the cases. Thirteen (5.6%) patients died: ten (76.9%) of them due to cardiovascular involvement, two due to digestive complications and one due to indeterminate causes.

PMID: 19142440 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

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