| evaluation of 18s rdna pcr assay using skin fragments as a diagnostic test for trypanosoma caninum. | trypanosoma caninum is a new species that has been recently identified in brazil and infects domestic dogs. to date, no accurate diagnostic assays for this parasite have been established; thus, our aim was to evaluate more than one type of pcr for the diagnosis and molecular screening of t. caninum in 229 dogs living in rio de janeiro state. the tests were based on the amplification and sequencing of the 18s ribosomal dna (rdna) gene using healthy skin fragments. additionally, pcr amplification ... | 2014 | 25131189 |
| the first canine visceral leishmaniasis outbreak in campinas, state of são paulo southeastern brazil. | early detection of american visceral leishmaniasis (avl) outbreak in animals is crucial for controlling this disease in non-endemic areas. | 2014 | 25075492 |
| serological survey of leishmania infection in blood donors in salvador, northeastern brazil. | visceral leishmaniasis is endemic to brazil, where it is caused by leishmania infantum (syn. leishmania chagasi). following parasite inoculation, individuals may experience asymptomatic infection, raising the possibility of parasite transmission through the transfusion of contaminated blood products. in the present work, we evaluated the prevalence of asymptomatic leishmania infection among blood donors in salvador, northeastern brazil. | 2014 | 25073468 |
| topical resiquimod protects against visceral infection with leishmania infantum chagasi in mice. | new prevention and treatment strategies are needed for visceral leishmaniasis, particularly ones that can be deployed simply and inexpensively in areas where leishmaniasis is endemic. synthetic molecules that activate toll-like receptor 7 and 8 (tlr7/8) pathways have previously been demonstrated to enhance protection against cutaneous leishmaniasis. we initially sought to determine whether the tlr7/8-activating molecule resiquimod might serve as an effective vaccine adjuvant targeting visceral l ... | 2014 | 25030052 |
| evaluation of pcr in the diagnosis of canine leishmaniasis in two different epidemiological regions: campinas (sp) and teresina (pi), brazil. | summary using the polymerase chain reaction (pcr) test for diagnosis of canine leishmaniasis has greater sensitivity and specificity than culture and visualization of the parasite. this study compares pcr for the diagnosis of the genus and species of leishmania with serological techniques used for the control of canine visceral leishmaniasis (cvl) in brazil, considering two regions. we analysed peripheral blood samples collected from 195 dogs in the campinas (sp) and teresina (pi) regions. elisa ... | 2015 | 25019604 |
| leishmania infantum-chagasi activates shp-1 and reduces nfat5/tonebp activity in the mouse kidney inner medulla. | visceral leishmaniasis patients have been reported to have a urine concentration defect. concentration of urine by the renal inner medulla is essentially dependent on a transcription factor, nfat5/tonebp, because it activates expression of osmoprotective genes betaine/glycine transporter 1 (bgt1) and sodium/myo-inositol transporter (smit), and water channel aquaporin-2, all of which are imperative for concentrating urine. leishmania parasites evade macrophage immune defenses by activating protei ... | 2014 | 24990897 |
| molecular detection of leishmania spp. in road-killed wild mammals in the central western area of the state of são paulo, brazil. | road-killed wild animals have been classified as sentinels for detecting such zoonotic pathogens as leishmania spp., offering new opportunities for epidemiological studies of this infection. | 2014 | 24963288 |
| activity of cycloartane-type triterpenes and sterols isolated from musa paradisiaca fruit peel against leishmania infantum chagasi. | the aim of the study was to evaluate in vitro the antileishmanial activity of triterpenes and sterols isolated from musa paradisiaca (banana) fruit peel used traditionally to treat leishmaniasis. the compounds were isolated from the ethanolic extract of the peel of the banana fruit by column chromatography. the chemical structure of compounds was determined by (1)h and (13)c - nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. the cytotoxicity was measured in raw 264.7 cells and llc-mk2. leishmanicidal ac ... | 2014 | 24916706 |
| survey of trypanosoma and leishmania in wild and domestic animals in an atlantic rainforest fragment and surroundings in the state of espírito santo, brazil. | trypanosoma and leishmania infections affect wild and domestic animals and human populations. the growing process of deforestation and urbanization of atlantic rainforest areas has given rise to introduction of humans and domestic animals to the sylvatic cycles of trypanosoma and leishmania species. serological, parasitological, and molecular surveys among wild and domestic animals in the corrego do veado biological reserve, which is an atlantic rainforest fragment in the state of espírito santo ... | 2014 | 24897863 |
| further thoughts on "asymptomatic dogs are highly competent to transmit leishmania (leishmania) infantum chagasi to the natural vector". | | 2014 | 24877789 |
| proteomic analysis of the soluble proteomes of miltefosine-sensitive and -resistant leishmania infantum chagasi isolates obtained from brazilian patients with different treatment outcomes. | the mechanism of miltefosine-resistance in leishmania spp. has been partially determined in experimental resistant lines; however, studies using clinical isolates with different miltefosine susceptibilities are still needed. in our study, we used a proteomic 2d-dige/ms approach to study different protein abundances in miltefosine-sensitive and -resistant leishmania infantum chagasi isolates from visceral leishmaniasis patients with different miltefosine treatment outcomes. the high-resolution pr ... | 2014 | 24874972 |
| cutaneous leishmaniasis in north dakota. | in the united states, autochthonous cutaneous leishmaniasis caused by infection with leishmania mexicana has been reported from texas and oklahoma. here, we describe a child with 2 new features: cutaneous infection acquired outside of the south-central united states (in north dakota) and infection caused by leishmania donovani species complex. | 2014 | 24850800 |
| role of prostaglandin f2α production in lipid bodies from leishmania infantum chagasi: insights on virulence. | lipid bodies (lb; lipid droplets) are cytoplasmic organelles involved in lipid metabolism. mammalian lbs display an important role in host-pathogen interactions, but the role of parasite lbs in biosynthesis of prostaglandin f2α (pgf2α) has not been investigated. we report herein that lbs increased in abundance during development of leishmania infantum chagasi to a virulent metacyclic stage, as did the expression of pgf2α synthase (pgfs). the amount of parasite lbs and pgf2α were modulated by exo ... | 2014 | 24850789 |
| phylogenetic relationships of leishmania species based on trypanosomatid barcode (ssu rdna) and ggapdh genes: taxonomic revision of leishmania (l.) infantum chagasi in south america. | phylogenetic studies on trypanosomatid barcode using v7v8 ssu rrna and ggapdh gene sequences have provided support for redefining some trypanosomatid species and positioning new isolates. the genus leishmania is a slow evolving monophyletic group and including important human pathogens. the phylogenetic relationships of this genus have been determined by the natural history of its vertebrate hosts, vector specificity, clinical manifestations, geographical distribution and molecular approaches us ... | 2014 | 24747606 |
| pathologic mechanisms underlying the clinical findings in canine leishmaniasis due to leishmania infantum/chagasi. | in dogs with symptomatic or asymptomatic leishmaniasis, leishmania infantum appears to induce a mixed th1/th2 immune response that in the sick dog may eventually result in tissue damage via different pathomechanisms, notably granulomatous inflammation (eg, nodular dermatitis, osteomyelitis), immune complex deposition (eg, glomerulonephritis), and/or autoantibody production (eg, polymyositis). this is a compensatory but detrimental mechanism generated mainly because of the insufficient killing ca ... | 2014 | 24510947 |
| trypanosoma caninum, a new parasite described in dogs in brazil: aspects of natural infection. | trypanosoma caninum constitutes the most recent trypanosomatid species infecting dogs in brazil. due to the limited data available about this parasite, this study aims to disclose clinical and laboratory findings from 14 dogs naturally infected. the dogs were diagnosed during a cross-sectional survey in cuiabá (mato grosso, brazil) and followed up at an interval of 3, 6, and 12 mo in order to evaluate the clinical evolution and to investigate the parasite, the dna, or both in different biologica ... | 2014 | 24328788 |
| acute oesophageal necrosis concurrent with leishmania chagasi infection in a dog. | a case of acute oesophageal necrosis concurrent with leishmania chagasi infection is reported in a 6-year-old female mixed-breed dog. the report describes clinical signs, gross and microscopical lesions and immunohistochemical findings. | 2014 | 24183643 |
| therapeutic options for visceral leishmaniasis. | visceral leishmaniasis (vl), also known as kala-azar, is a disseminated protozoal infection caused principally by leishmania donovani and leishmania infantum (known as leishmania chagasi in south america). the therapeutic options for vl are diverse and depend on different factors, such as the geographical area of the infection, development of resistance to habitual treatments, hiv co-infection, malnourishment and other concomitant infections. this article provides an exhaustive review of the lit ... | 2013 | 24170666 |
| first autochthonous case of canine visceral leishmaniasis in volta redonda, rio de janeiro, brazil. | in brazil, american visceral leishmaniasis (avl) is caused by leishmania (leishmania) chagasi and its main vector is lutzomyia longipalpis. cases of canine visceral leishmaniasis (cvl) in non-endemic areas have been reported over the last few years throughout the country. the objective of this research note is to describe an autochthonous case of cvl that occurred in the municipality of volta redonda, state of rio de janeiro, an area where the disease is not endemic, alerting veterinarians and t ... | 2013 | 24142177 |
| anti-leishmanial activity of the antimicrobial peptide drs 01 observed in leishmania infantum (syn. leishmania chagasi) cells. | leishmaniasis is one of the most serious diseases in the world and can be lethal if untreated. this is especially the case for visceral leishmaniasis, which is commonly caused by leishmania (l.) infantum and for which available medication is still inadequate. a recently described antimicrobial peptide drs 01 has been reported to kill l. infantum promastigotes, but nothing is known about its mode of action or effect on the cell. in this paper we report the visualization of the interaction between ... | 2014 | 24096030 |
| analysis using canine peripheral blood for establishing in vitro conditions for monocyte differentiation into macrophages for leishmania chagasi infection and t-cell subset purification. | canine visceral leishmaniasis (cvl) is a parasitic disease endemic in many countries, and dogs present as the major natural reservoir of the parasite, leishmania chagasi (syn. l. infantum). biomarkers in the canine immune system is an important technique in the course of developing vaccines and treatment strategies against cvl. new methodologies for studying the immune response of dogs during leishmania infection and after receiving vaccines and treatments against cvl would be useful. in this co ... | 2013 | 24018185 |
| predicted altitudinal shifts and reduced spatial distribution of leishmania infantum vector species under climate change scenarios in colombia. | visceral leishmaniasis (vl) is caused by the trypanosomatid parasite leishmania infantum (=leishmania chagasi), and is epidemiologically relevant due to its wide geographic distribution, the number of annual cases reported and the increase in its co-infection with hiv. two vector species have been incriminated in the americas: lutzomyia longipalpis and lutzomyia evansi. in colombia, l. longipalpis is distributed along the magdalena river valley while l. evansi is only found in the northern part ... | 2014 | 23988300 |
| cd95 (fas) and cd178 (fasl) induce the apoptosis of cd4+ and cd8+ cells isolated from the peripheral blood and spleen of dogs naturally infected with leishmania spp. | infected dogs are urban reservoirs of leishmania chagasi, which is a causative agent of visceral leishmaniasis (vl). dogs exhibit immune suppression during the course of this disease, and lymphocyte apoptosis is involved in this process. to investigate apoptosis and the expression levels of fas-fas-associated death domain protein (cd95 or apo-1), fasl-fas ligand protein (cd178), and trail-tnf-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (cd253) receptors in peripheral blood mononuclear cells and spleen leu ... | 2013 | 23920055 |
| biodistribution of meglumine antimoniate in healthy and leishmania (leishmania) infantum chagasi-infected balb/c mice. | pentavalent antimonials such as meglumine antimoniate (ma) are the primary treatments for leishmaniasis, a complex disease caused by protozoan parasites of the genus leishmania . despite over 70 years of clinical use, their mechanisms of action, toxicity and pharmacokinetics have not been fully elucidated. radiotracer studies performed on animals have the potential to play a major role in pharmaceutical development. the aims of this study were to prepare an antimony radiotracer by neutron irradi ... | 2013 | 23903979 |
| high levels of soluble cd40 ligand and matrix metalloproteinase-9 in serum are associated with favorable clinical evolution in human visceral leishmaniasis. | soluble cd40 ligand (scd40l) and matrix metalloproteinase 9 (mmp-9) are inflammation markers and have been poorly described in infectious disease. in this prospective study, we describe the sera kinetics of these two molecules in the course of treatment follow up in human visceral leishmaniasis (vl). | 2013 | 23870715 |
| antidermatophytic and antileishmanial activities of essential oils from lippia gracilis schauer genotypes. | lippia gracilis, popularly known in brazil as 'alecrim-de-tabuleiro', is used for many purposes, especially antimicrobial and antiseptic activities. the leaves of three l. gracilis genotypes, including lgra-106, lgra-109 and lgra-110 were collected from the active germplasm bank located in the "campus rural da ufs" research farm at the são cristóvão country, sergipe state, brazil. the essential oils were obtained from leaves of l. gracilis plants by hydrodistillation. chemical analysis of the es ... | 2013 | 23850505 |
| canine visceral leishmaniasis and chagas disease among dogs in araguaína, tocantins. | the present study analyzed serum samples from 111 male and female dogs of various ages from the municipality of araguaína in the state of tocantins, brazil. serological diagnosis of canine visceral leishmaniasis (cvl) was initially performed at the central laboratory (laboratório central - lacen) of araguaína, resulting in 61 positive samples by an indirect immunofluorescence assay (iifa) (≥1:40) and 50 non-reactive samples. the same samples were analyzed at the são paulo institute of tropical m ... | 2013 | 23802237 |
| cardiac lesions in 30 dogs naturally infected with leishmania infantum chagasi. | the hearts of 30 dogs naturally infected with leishmania infantum chagasi were evaluated histologically and immunohistochemically. myocardial lesions were detected in all dogs, including lymphoplasmacytic myocarditis (27/30), myonecrosis (24/30), increased interstitial collagen (22/30), lepromatous-type granulomatous myocarditis (7/30), fibrinoid vascular change (3/30), and vasculitis (1/30). the parasite was detected in the hearts of 20 of 30 dogs. the number of parasitized cells correlated wit ... | 2014 | 23794149 |
| t and b lymphocytes in the brains of dogs with concomitant seropositivity to three pathogenic protozoans: leishmania chagasi, toxoplasma gondii and neospora caninum. | visceral leishmaniasis is a disease with great variability regarding the clinical manifestations in humans and dogs. chronically infected dogs may develop neurological disorders, however, there are few reports that characterize the lesions and make clear the pathogenesis of the canine cerebral leishmaniasis. concomitant with leishmania chagasi, dogs may be infected by opportunistic pathogens, such as toxoplasma gondii and neospora caninum, which may contribute to the occurrence of lesions in the ... | 2013 | 23758819 |
| attenuation of leishmania infantum chagasi metacyclic promastigotes by sterol depletion. | the infectious metacyclic promastigotes of leishmania protozoa establish infection in a mammalian host after they are deposited into the dermis by a sand fly vector. several leishmania virulence factors promote infection, including the glycosylphosphatidylinositol membrane-anchored major surface protease (msp). metacyclic leishmania infantum chagasi promastigotes were treated with methyl-beta-cyclodextrin (mβcd), a sterol-chelating reagent, causing a 3-fold reduction in total cellular sterols as ... | 2013 | 23630964 |
| canine visceral leishmaniasis: diagnostic approaches based on polymerase chain reaction employing different biological samples. | the accurate diagnosis of canine visceral leishmaniasis (canl) is essential for visceral leishmaniasis control. to this end, dna detection on different biological samples has been employed. in this study, we report the use of polymerase chain reaction (pcr) assay on samples such as buffy coat, bone marrow, intact skin and cutaneous ulcers fragments, and lymph node aspirate collected from 430 dogs to determine the suitable biological sample for use in canl diagnosis. the pcr results were correlat ... | 2013 | 23619344 |
| the sero-conversion and evaluation of renal alterations in dogs infected by leishmania (infantum) chagasi. | this study investigated the sero-conversion period in which dogs from endemic areas test positive for visceral leishmaniasis (vl) as well as the early post-infection period in which renal alterations are observed. dogs that were initially negative for canine visceral leishmaniasis (cvl) were clinically evaluated every three months by serological, parasitological and biochemical tests until sero-conversion was confirmed, and six months later a subsequent evaluation was performed. samples of kidne ... | 2013 | 23563763 |
| use of the polymerase chain reaction for the diagnosis of asymptomatic leishmania infection in a visceral leishmaniasis-endemic area. | the diagnosis of asymptomatic infection with leishmania (leishmania) chagasi has become more important over recent years. expansion of visceral leishmaniasis might be associated with other routes of transmission such as transfusion, congenital or even vector transmission, and subjects with asymptomatic infection are potential reservoirs. moreover, the identification of infection may contribute to the management of patients with immunosuppressive conditions (hiv, transplants, use of immunomodulat ... | 2013 | 23563762 |
| asymptomatic dogs are highly competent to transmit leishmania (leishmania) infantum chagasi to the natural vector. | we evaluated the ability of dogs naturally infected with leishmania (leishmania) infantum chagasi to transfer the parasite to the vector and the factors associated with transmission. thirty-eight infected dogs were confirmed to be infected by direct observation of leishmania in lymph node smears. dogs were grouped according to external clinical signs and laboratory data into symptomatic (n=24) and asymptomatic (n=14) animals. all dogs were sedated and submitted to xenodiagnosis with f1-laborator ... | 2013 | 23562649 |
| behavioral aspects of lutzomyia longipalpis (diptera: psychodidae) in urban area endemic for visceral leishmaniasis. | the study of some of the behavioral aspects of the main vector of leishmania infantum chagasi cunha & chagas in the americas, lutzomyia longipalpis (lutz & neiva), such as dispersion, population size, and vector survival rates, is important for the elucidation of the mechanisms of visceral leishmaniasis transmission. these parameters were studied by means of capture-mark-release-recapture experiments in an urban area of campo grande municipality, an endemic area of visceral leishmaniasis, situat ... | 2013 | 23540114 |
| optimization of single-tube nested pcr for the diagnosis of visceral leishmaniasis. | conventional nested pcr is a very sensitive and specific method for the diagnosis of visceral leishmaniasis. however, this type of pcr is notorious for contamination problems related to the processing of the product between the first and the second pcr steps. in order to have a pcr method that is just as efficient but without the risk of contamination, we attempted the optimization of a single-tube nested pcr (stnpcr) method. during the first and the second pcr steps, we used the small subunit o ... | 2013 | 23507078 |
| a β-mercaptoethanol-modified enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for diagnosis of canine visceral leishmaniasis. | two immunoglobulin g enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (elisa) versions using whole promastigotes of leishmania infantum (syn. leishmania chagasi) treated either with β-mercaptoethanol (β-me-elisa) or trypsin (tryp-elisa) as antigens were developed for the diagnosis of canine visceral leishmaniasis (cvl). by comparison with the direct agglutination test (dat; 100%, 31/31; 95% confidence interval [ci]: 86.3-100%), slightly lower sensitivity was demonstrated for the newly developed β-me-elisa (93. ... | 2013 | 23417077 |
| vaginal canine transmissible venereal tumour associated with intra-tumoural leishmania spp. amastigotes in an asymptomatic female dog. | a 2-year-old female boxer dog was presented with a vaginal serosanguineous discharge not associated with oestrus. there was a friable mass occupying the upper caudal part of the vagina. cytological and histological examination revealed a monomorphic population of neoplastic round cells consistent with canine transmissible venereal tumour (tvt). in addition, leishmania spp. amastigotes were found within the neoplastic tissue. in order to characterize whether the amastigotes were present inside ma ... | 2013 | 23348016 |
| divergence between hepatic insulin-like growth factor (igf)-i mrna expression and igf-i serum levels in leishmania (leishmania) infantum chagasi-infected dogs. | visceral leishmaniasis (vl) caused in the new world by leishmania (leishmania) infantum chagasi has dog as important peridomestic reservoir in its transmission cycle. since vl in infected animals is similar to human vl, its study is interesting for human pathology. during leishmania infection, insulin-like growth factor-i (igf-i) plays a role in the host-parasite interaction, favoring parasite growth, particularly acting directly on leishmania. we evaluated igf-i mrna expression in different org ... | 2013 | 23177628 |
| in vitro and in vivo activity of an organic tellurium compound on leishmania (leishmania) chagasi. | tellurium compounds have shown several biological properties and recently the leishmanicidal effect of one organotellurane was demonstrated. these findings led us to test the effect of the organotellurium compound rf07 on leishmania (leishmania) chagasi, the agent of visceral leishmaniasis in latin america. in vitro assays were performed in l. (l.) chagasi-infected bone marrow derived macrophages treated with different concentrations of rf07. in in vivo experiments golden hamsters were infected ... | 2012 | 23144968 |
| in vitro phototoxicity of ultradeformable liposomes containing chloroaluminum phthalocyanine against new world leishmania species. | the use of photodynamic therapy (pdt) against cutaneous leishmaniasis (cl) based on chloroaluminum phthalocyanine (clalpc) is a promissory alternative therapy. the main purpose of this article was to assess the internalization and in vitro phototoxic activities of clalpc encapsulated in ultradeformable liposomes (udl-clalpc) in leishmania parasites and mammalian cells. cell internalization was determined by fluorescence microscopy, cell and parasite damage by standard mtt or direct microscopic a ... | 2012 | 23123595 |
| a simple immune complex dissociation elisa for leishmaniasis: standardization of the assay in experimental models and preliminary results in canine and human samples. | visceral leishmaniasis, caused by leishmania (leishmania) chagasi, is a chronic parasitic disease of humans and dogs. confirmation of the protozoal agent in bone marrow, lymph node or spleen aspirate is diagnostic, while specific-igg serology is used mainly for epidemiology despite the general presence of high levels of serum immunoglobulin. anecdotal reports of false-negative serology in active disease cases are known and are ascribed to the formation of immune complexes. because dissociation o ... | 2013 | 23123344 |
| nelfinavir is effective in inhibiting the multiplication and aspartic peptidase activity of leishmania species, including strains obtained from hiv-positive patients. | there is a general lack of effective and non-toxic chemotherapeutic agents for leishmaniasis and there is as yet no study about the effect of hiv peptidase inhibitors (hiv pis) on leishmania/hiv-coinfected patients. in the present work, we performed a comparative analysis of the spectrum of action of hiv pis on different leishmania spp., including strains obtained from hiv-positive patients receiving or not receiving antiretroviral treatment. | 2013 | 23109184 |
| design of primer pairs for species-specific diagnosis of leishmania (leishmania) infantum chagasi using pcr. | the objective of this study was to design and evaluate new primers for species-specific detection of l. infantum chagasi using pcr. two combinations of primer pairs were established with the aim of obtaining specific amplification products from the l. infantum chagasi 18s rrna gene. the combinations of the primer pairs and the respective sizes of the pcr products, based on the u422465 genbank reference sequence of l. infantum chagasi, were: lcs1/lcs3 (259 bp) and lcs2/lcs3 (820 bp). it was concl ... | 2012 | 23070446 |
| polymerase chain reaction and real-time pcr for diagnosing of leishmania infantum chagasi in dogs. | the importance of dogs as a reservoir for leishmania infantumchagasi in urban environments has stimulated numerous studies assessing diagnostic techniques. when performed properly, such procedures are an important step in preventing leishmaniasis in humans. molecular methods have become prominent for this purpose. the aim of the present study was to determine the performance of the polymerase chain reaction (pcr) and real-time pcr (qpcr) for diagnosing of canine visceral leishmaniasis (cvl) usin ... | 2012 | 23070425 |
| in vitro efficacy of coriandrum sativum, lippia sidoides and copaifera reticulata against leishmania chagasi. | the increased incidence of visceral leishmaniasis (vl) in brazil is due to a lack of effective disease control measures. in addition to that, no effective treatment exists for canine vl in response to synthetic drugs. thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of the essential oils of coriandrum sativum and lippia sidoides, and oleoresin from copaifera reticulata, on leishmania chagasi promastigotes and amastigotes. we also examined the toxicity of these treatments on the murin ... | 2012 | 23070424 |
| peripheral expression of lack-mrna induced by intranasal vaccination with pci-neo-lack defines the protection duration against murine visceral leishmaniasis. | lack (leishmania analogue of the receptor kinase c) is a conserved protein in the protozoan of the genus leishmania, which is associated with the immunopathogenesis and susceptibility of balb/c mice to leishmania major infection. we previously demonstrated that intranasal immunization with a plasmid dna encoding the p36/lack leishmanial antigen (pci-neo-lack) followed by challenge 7 days after a booster dose effectively protects balb/c mice against both cutaneous and visceral leishmaniasis. in t ... | 2012 | 23036534 |
| performance of commercially available serological diagnostic tests to detect leishmania infantum infection on experimentally infected dogs. | leishmania infantum (syn. leishmania chagasi) is the etiological agent of a widespread serious zoonotic disease that affects both humans and dogs. prevalence and incidence of the canine infection are important parameters to determine the risk and the ways to control this reemergent zoonosis. unfortunately, there is not a gold standard test for leishmania infection. our aim was to assess the operative validity of commercial tests used to detect antibodies to leishmania in serum samples from exper ... | 2013 | 23021261 |
| a simple technique to enhance the humoral immune response to intracellular protein antigens in genetic immunizations. | a simple technique to enhance the humoral immune response to intracellular protein antigens in genetic immunizations is demonstrated in mice. in this approach, the intracellular protein is intentionally secreted from expressing cells as a chimeric protein, comprising an n-terminal secreted protein fused to the intracellular protein antigen. using the leishmania chagasi ldccys1 cysteine protease (411cp) as an example of an intracellular protein antigen and both human and murine granulocyte colony ... | 2013 | 22964556 |
| vaccine prospects of killed but metabolically active leishmania against visceral leishmaniasis. | leishmanization or live vaccination, the gold standard for immunoprophylactic success against cutaneous leishmaniasis, has been abandoned for safety reasons. killed but metabolically active (kbma) leishmania, a new class of whole-cell vaccine, holds promise for safe vaccination. amotosalen (s-59)-treated and uva-irradiated leishmania major and leishmania infantum chagasi (kbma-lic) were rendered replication-incompetent and incapable of causing disease; this was demonstrated convincingly by sensi ... | 2012 | 22913255 |
| evaluation of serological cross-reactivity between canine visceral leishmaniasis and natural infection by trypanosoma caninum. | in order to evaluate if the presence of trypanosoma caninum can lead to a confuse diagnosis of canine visceral leishmaniasis (cvl), we investigated the serological status of dogs infected by t. caninum and assessed the serological cross-reactivity with cvl. a set of 117 serum samples from dogs infected by t. caninum, leishmania chagasi and not infected dogs (n=39 in each group) was tested using commercial kits--indirect immunofluorescence (ifi-lvc), elisa (eie-lvc) and immunochromatographic test ... | 2012 | 22840335 |
| factors associated with leishmania chagasi infection in domestic dogs from teresina, state of piauí, brazil. | many studies have evaluated risk factors for human visceral leishmaniasis, but few have focused on the infection among dogs. the objective of this study was to assess the association between peridomestic socioeconomic and environmental factors and the presence of dogs seropositive for leishmania chagasi in the city of teresina, brazil. | 2012 | 22836664 |
| cytokine responses to novel antigens in a peri-urban population in brazil exposed to leishmania infantum chagasi. | visceral leishmaniasis (vl) is fatal if untreated, and there are no vaccines for this disease. high levels of cd4-derived interferon-γ (ifn-γ) in the presence of low levels of interleukin-10 (il-10) predicts vaccine success. tumor necrosis factor-α (tnf-α) is also important in this process. we characterized human immune responses in three groups exposed to leishmania infantum chagasi in brazil: 1) drug-cured vl patients (recovered vl); 2) asymptomatic persons with positive leishmania-specific de ... | 2012 | 22826477 |
| prophylactic or therapeutic administration of agaricus blazei murill is effective in treatment of murine visceral leishmaniasis. | the present study aimed to investigate the in vitro antileishmanial activity of five fractions obtained from agaricus blazei water extract (abm), namely, fab1, fab2, fab3, fab4, and fab5; and use the selected leishmanicidal fraction to treat balb/c mice infected with leishmania chagasi. a curve dose-titration was performed to obtain the concentration to be test in infected animals. in this context, fab5 fraction and abm were used in the doses of 20 and 100 mg/kg/day, respectively, with the produ ... | 2012 | 22824583 |
| assessment of serological tests for the diagnosis of canine visceral leishmaniasis. | an immunoenzymatic assay (elisa), an indirect immunofluorescence antibody test (ifat) with different antigens (elisa-leishmania chagasi, elisa-l. major-like, ifat-l. chagasi and ifat-l. major-like), and an immunochromatographic test were assessed for the diagnosis of canine visceral leishmaniasis (cvl). serum samples from 144 dogs from an endemic area for visceral leishmaniasis in the municipality of rio de janeiro were tested. the sensitivities of the serological tests were 93%, 100%, 73%, 60% ... | 2013 | 22789627 |
| analysis of sandflies (diptera: psychodidae) in barra do garças, state of mato grosso, brazil, and the influence of environmental variables on the vector density of lutzomyia longipalpis (lutz & neiva, 1912). | leishmaniasis is an infectious and parasitic zoonotic, non-contagious, vector-borne disease caused by protozoa of the genus leishmania. in brazil, the major vector of leishmania (leishmania) infantum chagasi (cunha & chagas, 1934) is lutzomyia longipalpis. barra do garças, state of mato grosso, was designated as a priority area by the brazilian ministry of health for american visceral leishmaniasis, and it is important to identify the vector species present in this municipality. our objective wa ... | 2012 | 22760128 |
| immunodominant antigens of leishmania chagasi associated with protection against human visceral leishmaniasis. | protection and recovery from visceral leishmaniasis (vl) have been associated with cell-mediated immune (cmi) responses, whereas no protective role has been attributed to humoral responses against specific parasitic antigens. in this report, we compared carefully selected groups of individuals with distinct responses to leishmania chagasi to explore antigen-recognizing igg present in resistant individuals. | 2012 | 22724032 |
| apoptosis, inflammatory response and parasite load in skin of leishmania (leishmania) chagasi naturally infected dogs: a histomorphometric analysis. | the skin has an important role in infection by leishmania chagasi. apoptosis modulates the inflammatory response acting distinctively either on the progression or regression of the lesions. the parasites interact with multiple regulatory systems inducing apoptosis in host cells, during cell invasion, stabilization and multiplication of pathogens. in this context, the aim of this study was to evaluate cell death within the inflammatory infiltrates, and to correlate these results with parasite loa ... | 2012 | 22694833 |
| subclinical leishmaniasis associated with infertility and chronic prostatitis in a dog. | a stud dog was presented for acquired infertility. haematospermia and teratozoospermia were found on two ejaculates 2 weeks apart. a presumptive diagnosis of prostatitis was made follo-wing ultrasound examination. an ultrasound-guided needle core biopsy was performed under general anaesthesia, revealing a mild chronic macrophagic and plasma cell prostatitis with intracytoplasmic amastigotes consistent with leishmania spp. infection. presence of leishmania infantum, leishmania donovani or leishma ... | 2012 | 22690941 |
| the diagnostic accuracy of serologic and molecular methods for detecting visceral leishmaniasis in hiv infected patients: meta-analysis. | human visceral leishmaniasis (vl), a potentially fatal disease, has emerged as an important opportunistic condition in hiv infected patients. in immunocompromised patients, serological investigation is considered not an accurate diagnostic method for vl diagnosis and molecular techniques seem especially promising. | 2012 | 22666514 |
| differential surface deposition of complement proteins on logarithmic and stationary phase leishmania chagasi promastigotes. | previous works demonstrated that various species of leishmania promastigotes exhibit differential sensitivity to complement-mediated lysis (cml) during development. upon exposure to normal human serum (nhs), cultures of leishmania chagasi promastigotes recently isolated from infected hamsters (fewer than 5 in vitro passages) are cml-sensitive when in the logarithmic growth phase but become cml-resistant upon transition to the stationary culture phase. visualization by light and electron microsco ... | 2012 | 22662870 |
| application of serial analysis of gene expression to the study of the gene expression profile of leishmania infantum chagasi promastigote. | this study describes the application of the longsage methodology to study the gene expression profile in promastigotes of leishmania infantum chagasi. a tag library was created using the longsage method and consisted of 14,208 tags of 17 bases. of these, 8,427 (59.3%) were distinct. blast research of the 1,645 most abundant tags showed that 12.8% of them identified the coding sequences of genes, while 82% (1,349/1,645) identified one or more genomic sequences that did not correspond with open re ... | 2012 | 22570533 |
| antiprotozoal sesquiterpene pyridine alkaloids from maytenus ilicifolia. | as part of a bioprospecting program aimed at the discovery of antiprotozoal agents from the brazilian flora, two new sesquiterpene pyridine alkaloids, ilicifoliunines a (1) and b (2), along with the known alkaloids aquifoliunine e-i (3) and mayteine (4), were isolated from the root bark of maytenus ilicifolia. the structures of 1 and 2 were established on the basis of spectroscopic data interpretation. alkaloid 3 displayed potent in vitro antiprotozoal activity against leishmania chagasi and try ... | 2012 | 22559947 |
| heme oxygenase-1 promotes the persistence of leishmania chagasi infection. | visceral leishmaniasis (vl) remains a major public health problem worldwide. this disease is highly associated with chronic inflammation and a lack of the cellular immune responses against leishmania. it is important to identify major factors driving the successful establishment of the leishmania infection to develop better tools for the disease control. heme oxygenase-1 (ho-1) is a key enzyme triggered by cellular stress, and its role in vl has not been investigated. in this study, we evaluated ... | 2012 | 22461696 |
| lutzomyia longipalpis (diptera: psychodidae: phlebotominae) in the region of saquarema: potential area of visceral leishmaniasis transmission in the state of rio de janeiro, brazil. | lutzomyia longipalpis is the main vector of leishmania infantum chagasi in the americas. | 2012 | 22370841 |
| clinical and laboratory alterations in dogs naturally infected by leishmania chagasi. | canine visceral leishmaniasis (cvl) is a zoonotic disease with different clinical manifestations. parasitism often occurs in bone marrow, but changes have been observed in peripheral blood and serum biochemical parameters. the aim of this study was to evaluate the hematological and biochemical parameters in dogs naturally infected by leishmania chagasi. | 2012 | 22370824 |
| diagnosis of leishmania (leishmania) chagasi infection in dogs and the relationship with environmental and sanitary aspects in the municipality of palmas, state of tocantins, brazil. | the aim of the present study was to identify the presence of leishmania (leishmania) chagasi infection in dogs in the city of palmas, tocantins, brazil, using the pcr technique to list the hot spots of infected dogs in the city and associate their occurrence to significant environmental changes at capture sites. | 2012 | 22370823 |
| killed but metabolically active leishmania infantum as a novel whole-cell vaccine for visceral leishmaniasis. | there are currently no effective vaccines for visceral leishmaniasis, the second most deadly parasitic infection in the world. here, we describe a novel whole-cell vaccine approach using leishmania infantum chagasi promastigotes treated with the psoralen compound amotosalen (s-59) and low doses of uv a radiation. this treatment generates permanent, covalent dna cross-links within parasites and results in leishmania organisms termed killed but metabolically active (kbma). in this report, we chara ... | 2012 | 22323556 |
| genetic diversity of leishmania infantum field populations from brazil. | leishmania infantum (syn. leishmania chagasi) is the etiological agent of visceral leishmaniasis (vl) in brazil. the epidemiology of vl is poorly understood. therefore, a more detailed molecular characterization at an intraspecific level is certainly needed. herein, three independent molecular methods, multilocus microsatellite typing (mlmt), random amplification of polymorphic dna (rapd) and simple sequence repeats-polymerase chain reaction (ssr-pcr), were used to evaluate the genetic diversity ... | 2012 | 22310534 |
| identification of proteins in promastigote and amastigote-like leishmania using an immunoproteomic approach. | the present study aims to identify antigens in protein extracts of promastigote and amastigote-like leishmania (leishmania) chagasi syn. l. (l.) infantum recognized by antibodies present in the sera of dogs with asymptomatic and symptomatic visceral leishmaniasis (vl). | 2012 | 22272364 |
| leishmanicidal activity of carvacrol-rich essential oil from lippia sidoides cham. | leishamaniasis is a disease that affects more than 2 million people worldwide, whose causative agent is leishmania spp. the current therapy for leishmaniasis is far from satisfactory. all available drugs, including pentavalent antimony, require parenteral administration and are potentially toxic. moreover, an increase in clinical resistance to these drugs has been reported. in this scenario, plant essential oils used traditionally in folk medicine are emerging as alternative sources for chemothe ... | 2012 | 23558998 |
| detection and identification of leishmania spp.: application of two hsp70-based pcr-rflp protocols to clinical samples from the new world. | leishmaniasis is highly prevalent in new world countries, where several methods are available for detection and identification of leishmania spp. two hsp70-based pcr protocols (pcr-n and pcr-f) and their corresponding restriction fragment length polymorphisms (rflp) were applied for detection and identification of leishmania spp. in clinical samples recruited in colombia, guatemala, and honduras. a total of 93 cases were studied. the samples were classified into positive or suspected of leishman ... | 2017 | 28573463 |
| morita-baylis-hillman adducts display anti-inflammatory effects by modulating inflammatory mediator expression in raw264.7 cells. | inflammatory response plays an important role not only in the normal physiology but also in pathologies such as cancers. the morita-baylis-hillman adducts (mbha) are a novel group of synthetic molecules that have demonstrated many biological activities against some parasitic cells such as plasmodium falciparum, leishmania amazonensis, and leishmania chagasi, and antimitotic activity against sea urchin embryonic cells was also related. however, little is known about the mechanisms induced by mbha ... | 2017 | 28785138 |
| first record of lutzomyia (lutzomyia) longipalpis (diptera: psychodidae: phlebotominae) on the trinational frontier (brazil-peru-bolivia) of south-western amazonia. | in south america, the main sand fly species involved in the transmission of leishmania infantum chagasi (cunha & chagas, 1937), etiological agent of the visceral leishmaniasis (vl), is lutzomyia longipalpis (lutz & neiva, 1912). the species has been recorded in colombia, venezuela, bolivia, argentina, paraguay, uruguay, and brazil, where it is recorded in 24 of the 27 brazilian states, except acre, amazonas, and santa catarina. collections were carried out for one year (april 2013 to march 2014) ... | 2017 | 28453779 |