| Abstrakt: |
Zoonoses are infectious diseases transmissible from vertebrate animals to humans under natural conditions. This concept implies that the pathogens causing the infection or disease have, in general, a wild animal reservoir, usually asymptomatic, which can transmit the pathogen directly to humans or domestic animals, which in turn can transmit it to humans. Pathogens that generally cause zoonoses can be bacteria, viruses or parasites. The latter can cause fatal diseases such as Chagas disease, responsible for around 12,000 deaths per year, which is transmitted by the hemoflagellate parasite Trypanosoma cruzi. Recently, the emergence and re-emergence of this type of zoonosis has been observed, a phenomenon closely related to ecological, climatic and socio-cultural changes that have determined that the animal population shares its habitat with humans with increasing frequency. Thus, it is necessary to carry out constant epidemiological surveillance of wild reservoirs in areas where the urban population closely adjoins the natural habitats of these reservoirs. The identification and characterization of American Trypanosomatidae is possible using conserved regions of the kDNA minicircles, which allow differentiating T. cruzi from T. rangeli, as well as the presence of lineages within T. rangeli. For this reason, the aim is to perform the diagnosis and molecular characterization of trypanosomatids present in wild reservoirs that may present a focus of infection for the nearby urban population. Blood samples from six mammals captured in the department of Tolima (two Cebus albifrons monkeys, three opossums Didelphis marsupialis and one armadillo Dasypus spp.) were used. Using these blood samples, blood cultures were performed in NNN-LIT 10% biphasic medium and DNA extraction was performed using the Genomic DNA Purification Kit from ThermoFisher Scientific. 15 days after the blood cultures were performed, they were reviewed by optical microscopy using an aliquot of the liquid medium and by smears with GIEMSA staining, finding forms similar to T. cruzi and T. rangeli. Using the DNA purified from the samples, molecular characterization was performed using primer sets S35, S36 and S35, S36, KP1L, and it was found that blood samples from C. albifrons and Dasypus spp. monkeys were infected with T. rangeli (amplification fragment of 765 bp and between 300 - 450 bp) and blood samples from opossums D. marsupialis were found to be infected with T. cruzi (amplification fragment of 330 bp). Likewise, samples with T. rangeli were found to belong to the KP1 (-) subpopulation or lineage, given the absence of the 165 bp amplification fragment, which corresponds to the amplification of the KP1 minicircle. Thus, the importance of diagnosis and epidemiological surveillance of wild reservoirs to detect possible foci of deadly parasitic diseases, such as Chagas disease, is highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
