PCR identification of Trypanosoma lewisi, a common parasite of laboratory rats
AUTOR(ES)
Desquesnes, Marc
FONTE
BioMed Central
RESUMO
Trypanosoma (Herpetosoma) lewisi is a trypanosome of the sub-genus Herpetosoma (Stercoraria section), parasite of rats (Rattus rattus and Rattus norvegicus) transmitted by fleas. T. lewisi has a stringent species specificity and cannot grow in other rodents such as mice. Rats are infected principally by oral route, through contamination by flea faeces or ingestion of fleas. Trypanosoma lewisi infections in rat colonies can interfere with research protocols and fleas of wild rats are often the source of such infections. Currently, diagnosis of T. lewisi in rats is performed by microscopic observation of stained blood smears. In the course of a research project at CIRDES, a T. lewisi infection was detected in the rat colony. In this study we evaluated PCR primer sets for their ability to diagnose multiple species of trypanosomes with a single amplification. We show that the use of ITS1 sequence of ribosomal DNA provides an efficient and sensitive assay for detection and identification of T. lewisi infection in rats and recommend the use of this assay for monitoring of T. lewisi infections in rat colonies.
ACESSO AO ARTIGO
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=119323Documentos Relacionados
- Complement in experimental Trypanosoma lewisi infection of rats.
- Effect of splenectomy on Trypanosoma lewisi infection in young rats.
- A surface glycoprotein of Trypanosoma lewisi binds immunoglobulin G from the serum of uninfected rats.
- Lipopolysaccharide hyperreactivity of animals infected with Trypanosoma lewisi or Trypanosoma musculi.
- Trypanosoma lewisi Infection in the Rat: Effect of Adenine