Trypanosoma cruzi isolated from a triatomine found in one of the biggest metropolitan areas of Latin America.

INTRODUCTION: To characterize Trypanosoma cruzi (TcI) isolated from a Panstrongylus megistus specimen found in one of the biggest metropolitan areas of Latin America, the relationship between the TcI group of T. cruzi and the transmission cycle in the urban environment was studied. METHODS: The T. cruzi strain, Pm, was isolated in a culture medium from the evolutionary forms present in the hindgut of a live male specimen of P. megistus found in the Jabaquara subway in São Paulo City. The sample from the triatomine showed trypomastigote forms of Trypanosomatidae, which were inoculated in the peritoneum of Balb/c mice. The sample was then inoculated in Liver Infusion Tryptose medium and J774 cells for the molecular identification and characterization of the parasite. The Pm strain of T. cruzi was identified by isolation in axenic culture medium, and based on the morphology, cell infection, growth kinetics, and molecular characterization. RESULTS: After isolation, the protozoan was identified as T. cruzi. No parasites were detected in the peripheral blood of the animal, which can be a characteristic inherent to the strain of T. cruzi that was isolated. Cell invasion assays were performed in triplicate in the J774 cell line to confirm the invasive ability of the Pm strain and revealed amastigote forms of the parasite within macrophages. CONCLUSIONS: Our biological and molecular characterizations helped understand parasite-host interactions and their evolutionary history in context of the associations between vectors, ecotopes, hosts, and groups of the parasite.

Trypanosoma cruzi isolated from a triatomine found in one of the biggest metropolitan areas of Latin America

Abstract: INTRODUCTION: To characterize Trypanosoma cruzi (TcI) isolated from a Panstrongylus megistus specimen found in one of the biggest metropolitan areas of Latin America, the relationship between the TcI group of T. cruzi and the transmission cycle in the urban environment was studied. METHODS: The T. cruzi strain, Pm, was isolated in a culture medium from the evolutionary forms present in the hindgut of a live male specimen of P. megistus found in the Jabaquara subway in São Paulo City. The sample from the triatomine showed trypomastigote forms of Trypanosomatidae, which were inoculated in the peritoneum of Balb/c mice. The sample was then inoculated in Liver Infusion Tryptose medium and J774 cells for the molecular identification and characterization of the parasite. The Pm strain of T. cruzi was identified by isolation in axenic culture medium, and based on the morphology, cell infection, growth kinetics, and molecular characterization. RESULTS: After isolation, the protozoan was identified as T. cruzi. No parasites were detected in the peripheral blood of the animal, which can be a characteristic inherent to the strain of T. cruzi that was isolated. Cell invasion assays were performed in triplicate in the J774 cell line to confirm the invasive ability of the Pm strain and revealed amastigote forms of the parasite within macrophages. CONCLUSIONS: Our biological and molecular characterizations helped understand parasite-host interactions and their evolutionary history in context of the associations between vectors, ecotopes, hosts, and groups of the parasite.

Fauna flebotomínea (Diptera, Psychodidae) em parques do Município de São Paulo, estado de São Paulo, Brasil / Phlebotomine fauna (Diptera, Psychodidae) in parks of the City of São Paulo, State of São Paulo, Brazil

O crescimento demográfico e as alterações ambientais têm contribuído para o aumento dos casos de leishmaniose no Estado de São Paulo. O presente estudo teve como objetivo realizar um levantamento da fauna flebotomínea em parques do Município de São Paulo. Foram realizadas coletas nos Parques Alfredo Volpi, Anhanguera, Burle Marx, Cantareira, Carmo, Chico Mendes, Ecológico Tietê e Fundação Parque Zoológico, por meio de armadilhas luminosas NJ (New Jersey) e/ou CDC (Center Disease Control), instaladas semanalmente entre 2004 e 2011. No total, foram coletados 20.828 flebotomíneos de 24 espécies, pertencentes aos gêneros Brumptomyia (6), Evandromyia (1), Expapillata (1), Lutzomyia (1), Martinsmyia (1), Micropygomyia (1), Migonemyia (1), Nyssomyia (2), Pintomyia (3), Psathyromyia (4) e Psychodopygus (3), sendo 16.883 fêmeas (81%) e 3.945 machos (19%). O Parque da Cantareira teve a maior riqueza de espécies (22) e o maior número de espécimes coletados, com 3.904 em CDC e 12.047 em NJ. Pintomyia fischeri e Psathyromyia pascalei ocorreram em todos os parques, sendo a primeira a espécie com maior representatividade nos Parques da Cantareira, Alfredo Volpi, Carmo e Fundação Zoológico. Evandromyia edwardsi foi a mais frequente no Parque Burle Marx. Pi. fischeri, Mg. migonei, Ny. intermedia e Ny. whitmani, espécies vetoras da Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis, foram encontradas nos parques Anhanguera, Cantareira, Carmo, Chico Mendes e Zoológico...

Mosquitoes in degraded and preserved areas of the Atlantic Forest and potential for vector-borne disease risk in the municipality of São Paulo, Brazil.

In order to assess the epidemiological potential of the Culicidae species in remaining areas of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, specimens of this family were collected in wild and anthropic environments. A total of 9,403 adult mosquitoes was collected from May, 2009 to June, 2010. The most prevalent among species collected in the wild environment were Anopheles (Kerteszia) cruzii, the Melanoconion section of Culex (Melanoconion), and Aedes serratus, while the most common in the anthropic site were Coquillettidia chrysonotum/albifera, Culex (Culex) Coronator group, and An. (Ker.) cruzii. Mosquito richness was similar between environments, although the abundance of individuals from different species varied. When comparing diversity patterns between environments, anthropic sites exhibited higher richness and evenness, suggesting that environmental stress increased the number of favorable niches for culicids, promoting diversity. Increased abundance of opportunistic species in the anthropic environment enhances contact with culicids that transmit vector-borne diseases.