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Sent on Tuesday, 2011 Aug 23Search kinetoplastids OR kinetoplastid OR Kinetoplastida OR "trypanosoma brucei" OR leishmania OR brucei OR leishmaniasis OR "African trypanosomiasis"
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| PubMed Results |
| 1. | Mol Cell Biochem. 2011 Aug 20. [Epub ahead of print]Identification of TLR inducing Th1-responsive Leishmania donovani amastigote-specific antigens.Srivastava A, Singh N, Mishra M, Kumar V, Gour JK, Bajpai S, Singh S, Pandey HP, Singh RK.SourceDepartment of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, 221005, India. AbstractLeishmania is known to elicit Th2 response that causes leishmaniasis progression; on the other hand, Th1 cytokines restricts amastigote growth and disease progression. In this study, we report the potential of two leishmanial antigens (65 and 98 kDa, in combination) which enhance strong macrophage effector functions, viz., production of respiratory burst enzymes, nitric oxide, and Th1 cytokines. The identification of antigens were done by resolving the crude soluble antigens on SDS-PAGE and eluted by reverse staining method. Further, RAW264.7 macrophages were challenged with eluted antigens, and the innate immune response was observed by detecting respiratory burst enzymes, nitric oxide (NOx), TNF-α, IFN-γ, IL-12, toll-like receptors (TLRs) gene expression, and TLR-signaling proteins. These antigens increased the production of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) oxidase, superoxide dismutase, NOx, TNF-α, IFN-γ, IL-12, TLR2, and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase. These antigens also induced human peripheral blood mononuclear cells proliferation and Th1 cytokine production. This study concludes that these antigens induce innate immune response as well as have prophylactic efficacy. |
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| 2. | PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2011 Aug;5(8):e1291. Epub 2011 Aug 16.Prevalence and Factors Associated with Leishmania infantum Infection of Dogs from an Urban Area of Brazil as Identified by Molecular Methods.Coura-Vital W, Marques MJ, Veloso VM, Roatt BM, Aguiar-Soares RD, Reis LE, Braga SL, Morais MH, Reis AB, Carneiro M.SourceDepartamento de Parasitologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. AbstractBACKGROUND:Various factors contribute to the urbanization of the visceral leishmaniasis (VL), including the difficulties of implementing control measures relating to the domestic reservoir. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of canine visceral leishmaniasis in an urban endemic area in Brazil and the factors associated with Leishmania infantum infection among seronegative and PCR-positive dogs. METHODOLOGY:A cross-sectional study was conducted in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Blood samples were collected from 1,443 dogs. Serology was carried out by using two enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (Biomanguinhos/FIOCRUZ/RJ and "in house"), and molecular methods were developed, including PCR-RFLP. To identify the factors associated with early stages of infection, only seronegative (n = 1,213) animals were evaluated. These animals were divided into two groups: PCR-positive (n = 296) and PCR-negative (n = 917) for L. infantum DNA. A comparison of these two groups of dogs taking into consideration the characteristics of the animals and their owners was performed. A mixed logistic regression model was used to identify factors associated with L. infantum infection. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS:Of the 1,443 dogs examined, 230 (15.9%) were seropositive in at least one ELISA, whereas PCR-RFLP revealed that 356 animals (24.7%) were positive for L. infantum DNA. Results indicated that the associated factors with infection were family income<twice the Brazilian minimum salary (OR 2.3; 95%CI 1.4-3.8), knowledge of the owner regarding the vector (OR 1.9; 95%CI 1.1-3.4), the dog staying predominantly in the backyard (OR 2.2; 95%CI 1.1-4.1), and a lack of previous serological examination for VL (OR 1.5; 95%CI 1.1-2.3). CONCLUSIONS:PCR detected a high prevalence of L. infantum infection in dogs in an area under the Control Program of VL intervention. Socioeconomic variables, dog behavior and the knowledge of the owner regarding the vector were factors associated with canine visceral leishmaniasis (CVL). The absence of previous serological examination conducted by the control program was also associated with L. infantum infection. It is necessary to identify the risk factors associated with CVL to understand the expansion and urbanization of VL. |
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| 3. | PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2011 Aug;5(8):e1266. Epub 2011 Aug 9.Cryptic Diversity within the Major Trypanosomiasis Vector Glossina fuscipes Revealed by Molecular Markers.Dyer NA, Ravel S, Choi KS, Darby AC, Causse S, Kapitano B, Hall MJ, Steen K, Lutumba P, Madinga J, Torr SJ, Okedi LM, Lehane MJ, Donnelly MJ.SourceVector Group, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, United Kingdom. AbstractBACKGROUND:The tsetse fly Glossina fuscipes s.l. is responsible for the transmission of approximately 90% of cases of human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) or sleeping sickness. Three G. fuscipes subspecies have been described, primarily based upon subtle differences in the morphology of their genitalia. Here we describe a study conducted across the range of this important vector to determine whether molecular evidence generated from nuclear DNA (microsatellites and gene sequence information), mitochondrial DNA and symbiont DNA support the existence of these taxa as discrete taxonomic units. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS:The nuclear ribosomal Internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1) provided support for the three subspecies. However nuclear and mitochondrial sequence data did not support the monophyly of the morphological subspecies G. f. fuscipes or G. f. quanzensis. Instead, the most strongly supported monophyletic group was comprised of flies sampled from Ethiopia. Maternally inherited loci (mtDNA and symbiont) also suggested monophyly of a group from Lake Victoria basin and Tanzania, but this group was not supported by nuclear loci, suggesting different histories of these markers. Microsatellite data confirmed strong structuring across the range of G. fuscipes s.l., and was useful for deriving the interrelationship of closely related populations. CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE:We propose that the morphological classification alone is not used to classify populations of G. fuscipes for control purposes. The Ethiopian population, which is scheduled to be the target of a sterile insect release (SIT) programme, was notably discrete. From a programmatic perspective this may be both positive, given that it may reflect limited migration into the area or negative if the high levels of differentiation are also reflected in reproductive isolation between this population and the flies to be used in the release programme. |
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| 4. | PLoS One. 2011;6(8):e23867. Epub 2011 Aug 17.Plasmodium falciparum Metacaspase PfMCA-1 Trigger s a z-VAD-fmk Inhibitable Protease to Promote Cell Death.Meslin B, Beavogui AH, Fasel N, Picot S.SourceMalaria Research Unit, ICBMS UMR 5246 CNRS-UCBL1-INSA, Lyon, France. AbstractActivation of proteolytic cell death pathways may circumvent drug resistance in deadly protozoan parasites such as Plasmodium falciparum and Leishmania. To this end, it is important to define the cell death pathway(s) in parasites and thus characterize proteases such as metacaspases (MCA), which have been reported to induce cell death in plants and Leishmania parasites. We, therefore, investigated whether the cell death function of MCA is conserved in different protozoan parasite species such as Plasmodium falciparum and Leishmania major, focusing on the substrate specificity and functional role in cell survival as compared to Saccharomyces cerevisae. Our results show that, similarly to Leishmania, Plasmodium MCA exhibits a calcium-dependent, arginine-specific protease activity and its expression in yeast induced growth inhibition as well as an 82% increase in cell death under oxidative stress, a situation encountered by parasites during the host or when exposed to drugs such as artemisins. Furthermore, we show that MCA cell death pathways in both Plasmodium and Leishmania, involve a z-VAD-fmk inhibitable protease. Our data provide evidence that MCA from both Leishmania and Plasmodium falciparum is able to induce cell death in stress conditions, where it specifically activates a downstream enzyme as part of a cell death pathway. This enzymatic activity is also induced by the antimalarial drug chloroquine in erythrocytic stages of Plasmodium falciparum. Interestingly, we found that blocking parasite cell death influences their drug sensitivity, a result which could be used to create therapeutic strategies that by-pass drug resistance mechanisms by acting directly on the innate pathways of protozoan cell death. |
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| 5. | PLoS One. 2011;6(8):e23042. Epub 2011 Aug 12.Genome Size, Karyotype Polymorphism and Chromosomal Evolution in Trypanosoma cruzi.Souza RT, Lima FM, Barros RM, Cortez DR, Santos MF, Cordero EM, Ruiz JC, Goldenberg S, Teixeira MM, da Silveira JF.SourceDepartamento de Microbiologia, Imunologia e Parasitologia, Escola Paulista de Medicina, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil. AbstractBACKGROUND:The Trypanosoma cruzi genome was sequenced from a hybrid strain (CL Brener). However, high allelic variation and the repetitive nature of the genome have prevented the complete linear sequence of chromosomes being determined. Determining the full complement of chromosomes and establishing syntenic groups will be important in defining the structure of T. cruzi chromosomes. A large amount of information is now available for T. cruzi and Trypanosoma brucei, providing the opportunity to compare and describe the overall patterns of chromosomal evolution in these parasites. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS:The genome sizes, repetitive DNA contents, and the numbers and sizes of chromosomes of nine strains of T. cruzi from four lineages (TcI, TcII, TcV and TcVI) were determined. The genome of the TcI group was statistically smaller than other lineages, with the exception of the TcI isolate Tc1161 (José-IMT). Satellite DNA content was correlated with genome size for all isolates, but this was not accompanied by simultaneous amplification of retrotransposons. Regardless of chromosomal polymorphism, large syntenic groups are conserved among T. cruzi lineages. Duplicated chromosome-sized regions were identified and could be retained as paralogous loci, increasing the dosage of several genes. By comparing T. cruzi and T. brucei chromosomes, homologous chromosomal regions in T. brucei were identified. Chromosomes Tb9 and Tb11 of T. brucei share regions of syntenic homology with three and six T. cruzi chromosomal bands, respectively. CONCLUSIONS:Despite genome size variation and karyotype polymorphism, T. cruzi lineages exhibit conservation of chromosome structure. Several syntenic groups are conserved among all isolates analyzed in this study. The syntenic regions are larger than expected if rearrangements occur randomly, suggesting that they are conserved owing to positive selection. Mapping of the syntenic regions on T. cruzi chromosomal bands provides evidence for the occurrence of fusion and split events involving T. brucei and T. cruzi chromosomes. |
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| 6. | PLoS One. 2011;6(8):e20817. Epub 2011 Aug 9.Integrated mapping of establishment risk f or emerging vector-borne infections: a case study of canine leishmaniasis in southwest france.Hartemink N, Vanwambeke SO, Heesterbeek H, Rogers D, Morley D, Pesson B, Davies C, Mahamdallie S, Ready P.SourceDepartment of Farm Animal Health, Theoretical Epidemiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands. AbstractBACKGROUND:Zoonotic visceral leishmaniasis is endemic in the Mediterranean Basin, where the dog is the main reservoir host. The disease's causative agent, Leishmania infantum, is transmitted by blood-feeding female sandflies. This paper reports an integrative study of canine leishmaniasis in a region of France spanning the southwest Massif Central and the northeast Pyrenees, where the vectors are the sandflies Phlebotomus ariasi and P. perniciosus. METHODS:Sandflies were sampled in 2005 using sticky traps placed uniformly over an area of approximately 100 by 150 km. High- and low-resolution satellite data for the area were combined to construct a model of the sandfly data, which was then used to predict sandfly abundance throughout the area on a pixel by pixel basis (resolution of c. 1 km). Using literature- and expert-derived estimates of other variables and parameters, a spatially explicit R(0) map for leishmaniasis was constructed within a Geographical Information System. R(0) is a measure of the risk of establishment of a disease in an area, and it also correlates with the amount of control needed to stop transmission. CONCLUSIONS:To our knowledge, this is the first analysis that combines a vector abundance prediction model, based on remotely-sensed variables measured at different levels of spatial resolution, with a fully mechanistic process-based temperature-dependent R(0) model. The resulting maps should be considered as proofs-of-principle rather than as ready-to-use risk maps, since validation is currently not possible. The described approach, based on integrating several modeling methods, provides a useful new set of tools for the study of the risk of outbreaks of vector-borne diseases. |
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| 7. | Travel Med Infect Dis. 2011 Aug 17. [Epub ahead of print]Cutaneous leishmaniasis in British troops following jungle training in Belize.Bailey MS.SourceRoyal Centre for Defence Medicine, Vincent Drive, Birmingham B15 2SQ, UK. AbstractBritish military personnel account for 45% of cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) cases seen in the UK and 103 cases from Belize were seen in 1998-2009. Systemic treatment of CL from Belize should not be considered essential in immunocompetent patients because mucosal leishmaniasis very rarely occurs. Crown Copyright © 2011. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. |
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| 8. | Clin Dermatol. 2011 Sep-Oct;29(5):548-56.Diagnostic procedures in dermatology.Ruocco E, Baroni A, Donnarumma G, Ruocco V.SourceDepartment of Dermatology, Second University of Naples, via Sergio Pansini 5, 80131 Napoli, Italy. AbstractAlthough most skin diseases can be diagnosed with simple visual inspection, laboratory investigations are necessary in several clinical circumstances. This contribution highlights the usefulness of routine diagnostic procedures that are often overlooked and the innovative methods of molecular biology, which are expensive and require an experienced staff. Among the classic diagnostic investigations are (1) the use of Wood's light in many dermatologic disorders (eg, vitiligo, pityriasis versicolor, erythrasma, porphyrias), (2) cytodiagnosis of Tzanck in dermatologic practice (eg, herpetic infections, molluscum contagiosum, leishmaniasis, pemphigus vulgaris, basal cell carcinoma, erythroplasia of Queyrat, Hailey-Hailey disease), and (3) microscopic examination for fungal and bacterial skin infections as well as for mite infestation using potassium hydroxide, simple saline, and Gram stain. Modern molecular biotechnologies encompassing gene-specific polymerase chain reaction and its variants have a substantial affect in selected cases of viral (especially herpes simplex virus), bacterial, fungal, and protozoan (Leishmania) skin infections. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. |
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| 9. | Int J Parasitol. 2011 Aug 5. [Epub ahead of print]Characterization of TcHMGB, a high mobility group B family member protein from Trypanosomacruzi.Cribb P, Perozzi M, Vanina Villanova G, Trochine A, Serra E.SourceInstituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Rosario (IBR-CONICET), Facultad de Ciencias Bioquímicas y Farmacéuticas, Universidad Nacional de Rosario, Suipacha 531, Rosario CP2000, Argentina. AbstractHigh mobility group B (HMGB) proteins are highly abundant non-histone chromatin proteins that play important roles in the execution and control of many nuclear functions. Based on homology searches, we identified the coding sequence for the TcHMGB protein, an HMGB family member from Trypanosomacruzi. TcHMGB has two HMG box domains, similar to mammalian HMGBs, but lacks the typical C-terminal acidic tail. Instead, it contains a 110 amino acid long N-terminal domain. The TcHMGB N-terminal domain is conserved between the TriTryp sequences (70-80% similarity) and seems to be characteristic of kinetoplastid HMGBs. Despite these differences, TcHMGB maintains HMG box architectural functions: we demonstrated that the trypanosomatid HMGB binds distorted DNA structures such as cruciform DNA in gel shift assays. TcHMGB is also able to bend linear DNA as determined by T4 ligase circularization assays, similar to other HMGB family members. Immunofluorescence and western blot assays showed that TcHMGB is a nuclear protein expressed in all life cycle stages. Protein levels, however, seem to vary throughout the life cycle, which may be related to previously described changes in heterochromatin distribution and transcription rates. Copyright © 2011 Australian Society for Parasitology Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. |
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| 10. | Parasitology. 2011 Sep;138(10):1234-44.Risk maps for the presence and absence of Phle botomus perniciosus in an endemic area of leishmaniasis in southern Spain: implications for the control of the disease.Barón SD, Morillas-Márquez F, Morales-Yuste M, Díaz-Sáez V, Irigaray C, Martín-Sánchez J.SourceParasitology Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, Granada University, Cartuja Campus S/N, 18071 Granada, Spain. AbstractSUMMARYThe aim of this study was to construct risk maps for the presence of the dominant Leishmania infantum vector, P. perniciosus, and check its usefulness (a) to predict the risk of canine leishmaniasis and (b) to define effective leishmaniasis control measures. We obtained data for the presence/absence of P. perniciosus at 167 sampling sites in southern Spain, from which we also took a series of ecological and climate-related data. The probability of P. perniciosus presence was estimated as a function of these environmental variables and generated spatial risk maps. Altitude, land use and drainage hole features (with or without PVC piping) were retained as the only predictors for the distribution of this vector species. Drainage hole features in retaining walls, with or without PVC piping, produce significant variations in the probability of P. perniciosus presence, varying from 2·3 to 91·8% if PVC piping is absent and from 0·4 to 66·5% if all holes have PVC piping. It was concluded that the use of PVC piping in drainage holes could help to reduce leishmaniasis transmission. |
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