Wednesday, June 3, 2009

What's new for 'Trypanosomatids' in PubMed

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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 -10 of 11

1: An Acad Bras Cienc. 2009 Jun;81(2):199-206.

Hemoparasites of the genus Trypanosoma (Kinetoplastida: Trypanosomatidae) and hemogregarines in Anurans of the São Paulo and Mato Grosso do Sul States - Brazil.

Leal DD, O'dwyer LH, Ribeiro VC, Silva RJ, Ferreira VL, Rodrigues RB.

Departamento de Parasitologia, Instituto de Biociências, Unesp, Botucatu, SP, Brasil, 18618000. lealdenise@yahoo

Wild animals are exposed to numerous pathogens, including hemoparasites. The Trypanosoma and hemogregarinegroup are frequently reported as parasites in anurans (frogs, tree frogs and toads). The identification of these hemoparasites is usually made through stage observation of their morphology in the peripheral blood of the host. There areno studies, however, based on the biological cycle of these hemoparasites. The objective of the present study was toevaluate the presence of hemogregarines and Trypanosoma spp. in anurans captured in the States of São Paulo andMato Grosso do Sul- Brazil and to perform the morphological and morphometric characterization of these hemoparasites. The species of anurans examined were: Dendropsophus nanus, D. minutus, Leptodactylus chaquensis L. podicipinus, L. labyrinthicus, L. fuscus, Bufo granulosus, B. schneideri, Phyllomedusa hypocondrialis, Trachicephalus venulosus, Scinax fuscovarius and Hypsiboas albopunctatus. Of the total of 40 animals studied, four (10%)were positive for hemogregarines and eight (20%) were positive for Trypanosoma spp. Hemogregarine gamontsshowed variable morphology and, in addition to intraerythrocytic forms, extraerythrocytic forms were also observed.Extremely different forms of Trypanosoma were observed, as described in the literature, with the broad and oval forms being the most common.

PMID: 19488624 [PubMed - in process]

2: Neotrop Entomol. 2009 Mar-Apr;38(2):267-71.

Contribution to the knowledge of the phlebotomine sand flies fauna (Diptera: psychodidae) of timóteo municipality, minas gerais, Brazil.

Souza CF, Borges MA, Andrade AJ.

Depto. de Saúde Pública e Meio Ambiente, Centro Universitário do Leste de Minas Gerais, Timóteo, MG, 35182-096.

An investigation of the phlebotomine sandfloy fauna in the municipality of Timóteo, Minas Gerais State, Brazil, was undertaken with New Jersey traps placed in seven neighborhoods from December 2005 to January 2006. A total of 2,289 phlebotomine sandfloy specimens were recorded. Nyssomyia whitmani (Antunes & Coutinho) (48.1%), Nyssomyia intermedia (Lutz & Neiva) (36.8%) and Micropygomyia quinquefer (Dyar) (7.1%) were the most abundant species sampled. Some sandfloy species that play a role in the transmission of Leishmania Ross in the State of Minas Gerais were recorded and their importance to public health is highlighted. Pintomyia bianchigalatiae (Andrade Filho, Aguiar, Dias & Falcão), Micropygomyia capixaba (Dias, Falcão, Silva & Martins), Micropygomyia schreiberi (Martins, Falcão & Silva) and Psathyromyia pascalei (Coutinho & Barretto) are recorded for the first time in the municipality of Timóteo, and Pressatia choti (Floch & Abonnenc) is recorded for the first time in the State of Minas Gerais.

PMID: 19488518 [PubMed - in process]

3: Cad Saude Publica. 2009 May;25(5):1177-84.

The organization of health services and visceral leishmaniasis: an integrated intervention to improve diagnosis and treatment.

Luz ZM, Carneiro M, Schall V, Rabello A.

Centro de Pesquisas René Rachou, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Belo Horizonte, Brasil. profeta@cpqrr.fiocruz.br

The objective of this study, carried out in municipalities located in a metropolitan region of Brazil, was to promote the early diagnosis and prompt treatment of visceral leishmaniasis. In the intervention model a health professional underwent training that covered all procedures involved in assisting patients with suspected visceral leishmaniasis. The professionals then returned to their municipalities where they implemented a workplan with the following aims: (a) at least one physician able to diagnose and treat patients; (b) training of professionals for the laboratorial diagnosis of visceral leishmaniasis; (c) delivery of information on visceral leishmaniasis to the health workers. The implementation process was evaluated by follow-up meetings. Attendance of health professionals at the meetings, implementation of the workplan, and the visceral leishmaniasis case fatality rate before (1998-1999) and after (2001-2002) implementation of the model were used in the analysis. Among the 36 municipalities in the region, 22 were enrolled. Eight (36.3%) guaranteed at least 50% attendance in the meetings, and 14 (63.6%) had less than 50% attendance with no activities implemented. The fatality rate decreased in the municipalities that implemented the activities.

PMID: 19488502 [PubMed - in process]

4: Cad Saude Publica. 2009 May;25(5):1083-92.

[Poles of American tegumentary leishmaniasis production in northern Paraná State, Brazil]

[Article in Portuguese]

Monteiro WM, Neitzke HC, Silveira TG, Lonardoni MV, Teodoro U, Ferreira ME.

Programa de Pós-graduação em Medicina Tropical, Universidade do Estado do Amazonas, Fundação de Medicina Tropical do Amazonas, Manaus, Brasil. wueltonmm@ibest.com.br

American tegumentary leishmaniasis is endemic in the State of Paraná, with 99.3% of the cases reported in the South of Brazil. Spatial distribution of the disease in northern Paraná was verified, identifying the most relevant geographic areas in epidemiological terms. The study used data recorded on epidemiological forms from the Teaching and Research Clinical Test Laboratory of the State University in Maringá, from 1987 to 2004. The study only included individuals that were infected in the municipalities (counties) in northern Paraná. Identification of the epidemiological units (poles and circuits) was based on spatial density of cases, according to the model proposed by the National Health Foundation, considering the most likely infection sites. Considering 1,933 reported cases, 1,611 were infected in northern Paraná. American tegumentary leishmaniasis distribution in Paraná State suggests two circuits for production of the disease: Paraná-Paranapanema, highlighting the Cinzas-Laranjinha, Tibagi, Ivaí-Pirapó, Piquiri, and Baixo Iguaçu poles, and Ribeira, highlighting the Alto Ribeira pole.

PMID: 19488493 [PubMed - in process]

5: Korean J Parasitol. 2009 Jun;47(2):109-15. Epub 2009 May 27.

Anti-leishmanial effects of trinitroglycerin in BALB/C mice infected with Leishmania major via nitric oxide pathway.

Nahrevanian H, Najafzadeh M, Hajihosseini R, Nazem H, Farahmand M, Zamani Z.

Department of Parasitology, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran. mobcghn@yahoo.co.uk

This study investigated whether trinitroglycerine (TNG) as nitric oxide (NO) releasing agent had anti-leishmanial effects and mediated pathology in BALB/c mice infected with Leishmania major. Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL), a zoonotic infection caused by leishmania protozoa is still one of the health problems in the world and in Iran. NO is involved in host immune responses against intracellular L. major, and leishmania killing by macrophages is mediated by this substance. Moreover, application of CL treatment with NO-donors has been recently indicated. In our study, TNG was used for its ability to increase NO and to modify CL infection in mice, in order to evaluate NO effects on lesion size and formation, parasite proliferation inside macrophages, amastigote visceralization in target organs, and NO induction in plasma and organ suspensions. Data obtained in this study indicated that TNG increased plasma and liver-NO, reduced lesion sizes, removed amastigotes from lesions, livers, spleens, and lymph nodes, declined proliferation of amastigotes, hepatomegaly, and increased survival rate. However, TNG reduced spleen-NO and had no significant effects on spelenomegaly. The results show that TNG therapy reduced leishmaniasis and pathology in association with raised NO levels. TNG had some antiparasitic activity by reduction of positive smears from lesions, livers, spleens, and lymph nodes, which could emphasize the role of TNG to inhibit visceralization of L. major in target organs.

PMID: 19488416 [PubMed - in process]

6: Infect Immun. 2009 Jun 1. [Epub ahead of print]

Leishmania major phosphoglycans influence the host early immune response by modulating dendritic cell functions.

Liu D, Kebaier C, Pakpour N, Capul AA, Beverley SM, Scott P, Uzonna JE.

Department of Immunology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada; Department of Pathobiology, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, PA, USA; Department of Molecular Microbiology, Washington University, St. Louis, MO, 63110 USA.

The precise role of Leishmania glycoconjugate molecules including phosphoglycans (PGs) and lipophosphoglycan (LPG) on host cellular responses are still poorly defined. Here, we investigated the interaction of Leishmania major LPG2 null mutant (lpg2(-)), which lacks both PGs and LPG, with dendritic cells (DCs) and the subsequent early immune response in infected mice. Surprisingly, the absence of phosphoglycans did not influence expression pattern of MHC II, CD40, CD80 and CD86 on DCs in vitro and in vivo. However, lpg2(-) L. major induced significantly higher production of IL-12p40 by infected bone marrow-derived DCs (BMDCs) than wild-type (WT) parasites in vitro. Furthermore, the production of IL-12p40 by draining lymph node (dLN) cells from lpg2(-) infected mice was higher than those from WT L. major-infected mice. In model antigen presentation experiments, DCs from lpg2(-)-infected mice induced more IFN-gamma and IL-2 production by Leishmania-specific T cells than those from WT-infected mice. Lymphocytes isolated from mice infected for 3 days with lpg2(-) parasites produce similar levels of IFN-gamma, but significantly less IL-4 and IL-10 than those from WT controls. Decreased IL-4 production was also seen in another general PG-deficient mutant lacking the Golgi UDP-Galactose transporters (lpg5A(-)/lpg5B(-)), but not with the lpg1(-)mutant lacking only LPG, thereby implicating PGs generally in the reduction of IL-4 production. Thus, Leishmania PGs influence host early immune response by modulating DC functions in a way that inhibits antigen presentation and promote early IL-4 response, and their absence may impact on the balance between Th1 and Th2 responses.

PMID: 19487470 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

7: BMC Genomics. 2009 Jun 1;10(1):255. [Epub ahead of print]

Chromosome level assembly of the hybrid Trypanosoma cruzi genome.

Weatherly DB, Boehlke C, Tarleton RL.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: In contrast to the essentially fully assembled genome sequences of the kinetoplastid pathogens Leishmania major and Trypanosoma brucei the assembly of the Trypanosoma cruzi genome has been hindered by its repetitive nature and the fact that the reference strain (CL Brener) is a hybrid strain of two distinct lineages. In this work, the > 32,000 contigs and scaffolds were assigned to the appropriate parental haplotype and assembled into pairs of homologous chromosomes based on inference from TriTryp synteny maps and the use of end sequences from T. cruzi BAC libraries. RESULTS: Ultimately, 41 pairs of chromosomes were assembled using this approach, a number in agreement with the predicted number of T. cruzi chromosomes based upon pulse field gel analysis, with over 90% (21133 of 23216) of the genes annotated in the genome represented. The approach was substantiated through the use of Southern blot analysis to confirm the mapping of BAC clones using as probes the genes they are predicted to contain, and each chromosome construction was visually validated to ensure sufficient evidence was present to support the organization. Additionally, the results of comparative genome hybridization analyses (CGH) to determine gene/chromosome copy variations between the CL Brener and Tulahuen strains of T. cruzi provide further support for the correctness of the assembled chromosomes. CONCLUSIONS: Now assembled, these chromosomes bring T. cruzi to the same level of organization as its kinetoplastid relatives. In addition, they will provide the foundation for analyses such as reverse genetics, where the location of genes and their alleles and/or paralogues is necessary and CGH, where a chromosome-level view of the genome is ideal.

PMID: 19486522 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

8: Zoonoses Public Health. 2009 Apr 8. [Epub ahead of print]

Geographical Variation and Factors Associated to Seroprevalence of Canine Leishmaniosis in an Endemic Mediterranean Area.

Alonso F, Giménez Font P, Manchón M, Ruiz de Ybáñez R, Segovia M, Berriatua E.

Department of Animal Health, Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad de Murcia, Campus de Espinardo, Espinardo, Murcia, Spain.

Summary This article retrospectively analyses the spatial distribution and dog- and environmental-level risk factors associated to Leishmania infantum seroprevalence among 807 asymptomatic dogs in the Municipality of Crevillente in Alicante in southeast Spain in 1999. They represented 60% of the dogs in this 103 km(2) area, with a human census of 27 034 people and 90% lived in Crevillente town. The estimated seroprevalence (95% confidence interval) in 714 dogs >/=1-year old was 22% (19-25) however; it was 12% (8-15) in town dogs and 0-100% in other administrative zones. High-medium seroprevalence zone clustered along a northeast-southwest fringe and around the town. They comprised the highest and driest inhabited part of the municipality, where farmland was interspersed by residential detached houses, whilst null-low seroprevalence zones included larger farmland extensions and two small rural villages. Predominant vegetation and ground soil type were bush, non-irrigated fruit trees and conglomerate crust and sandstone in medium-high seroprevalence zones and irrigated grassland and fruit trees and colluvial deposits in null-low seroprevalence zones. Random effects logistic regression indicated that the prevalence of infection with L. infantum was higher for dogs sharing residence with infected dogs, increased until 5-6 years old and with body weight and was associated to increasing conglomerate crust and low surface water in the dog's zone of residence. The study confirms that L. infantum infection is endemic in this part of Spain and shows that prevalence can vary significantly within a small area depending on specific demographic and environmental factors conditioning the habitat of the local L. infantum vector, Phlebotomus perniciosus. It suggests similar low-scale variability is present in other geographically variable endemic areas and should be investigated to design Leishmaniosis risk maps and cost-effective, evidence-based, targeted control interventions.

PMID: 19486495 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

9: Mil Med. 2009 Apr;174(4):335-46.

Neuropsychological issues in military deployments: lessons observed in the DoD Gulf War Illnesses Research Program.

Fried KE, Grate SJ, Proctor SP.

Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center, U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command, Fort Detrick, MD 21702-5012, USA.

The U.S. Department of Defense invested $150 M to investigate undiagnosed Gulf War Illnesses (GWI) and twice that amount in post hoc clinical management. No new disease syndrome was identified, but the research produced new understanding and awareness of important psychosocial and neurotoxicological interactions that represented a difficult and relatively untapped frontier in biomedical research, especially concerning chronic multisymptom illnesses. Some specific Gulf War issues such as effects of depleted uranium, Leishmania diagnosis and treatment, and pesticide and prophylactic drug interactions have been intensively investigated; remaining priorities for further investigation include: markers of neurologic change (e.g., neuroimaging, neuropsychological testing), interactions between psychological resilience and neurotoxicity, structure-function relationships of neurotoxins with neurodegenerative disease potential, and predictors of individual susceptibility. The primary conclusions from the program are that no specific neurotoxic chemical has been identified that explains the chronic multisymptom illness observed but wellness of service members in future deployments may be better sustained based on continuing research on preexposure health baselining, fitness and health-damaging behaviors, and stress resilience. The many scientific discoveries and accomplishments of the GWI research effort have advanced military medical science, provided a solid basis on which to build future protections against health and performance risks to the warfighter, and improved the ability to respond to future deployment health issues.

PMID: 19485101 [PubMed - in process]

10: J Med Chem. 2009 May 14;52(9):2846-53.Click here to read LinkOut

Indomethacin amides as a novel molecular scaffold for targeting Trypanosoma cruzi sterol 14alpha-demethylase.

Konkle ME, Hargrove TY, Kleshchenko YY, von Kries JP, Ridenour W, Uddin MJ, Caprioli RM, Marnett LJ, Nes WD, Villalta F, Waterman MR, Lepesheva GI.

Department of Chemistry, School of Medicine, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee 37232, USA.

Trypanosoma cruzi (TC) causes Chagas disease, which in its chronic stage remains incurable. We have shown recently that specific inhibition of TC sterol 14alpha-demethylase (TCCYP51) with imidazole derivatives is effective in killing both extracellular and intracellular human stages of TC. An alternative set of TCCYP51 inhibitors has been identified using optical high throughput screening followed by web-database search for similar structures. The best TCCYP51 inhibitor from this search was found to have structural similarity to a class of cyclooxygenase-2-selective inhibitors, the indomethacin-amides. A number of indomethacin-amides were found to bind to TCCYP51, inhibit its activity in vitro, and produce strong antiparasitic effects in the cultured TC cells. Analysis of TC sterol composition indicated that the mode of action of the compounds is by inhibition of sterol biosynthesis in the parasite.

PMID: 19354253 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

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