Abstract
The aim of this study was to identify Plasmodium spp. in blood samples from nonhuman primates (NHPs) in the state of Maranhão, using classical and alternative techniques for examination of human malaria. A total of 161 blood samples from NHPs were analyzed: 141 from captive animals at a Wildlife Screening Center (CETAS) and 20 from free-living animals in a private reserve. The techniques used were microscopy, rapid diagnostic test (RDT), Indirect fluorescent antibody test (IFAT) and molecular techniques (semi-nested PCR, quantitative real-time PCR and LAMP). Two serological methods (dot-ELISA and indirect ELISA) were also standardized with rhoptry protein-soluble antigen of P. falciparum and P. berghei. Trophozoite forms of Plasmodium sp. were identified on slides from five different animals. No samples were positive through RDT and LAMP. Four samples were seropositive for P. malariae through IFAT. The samples showed low reactivity to ELISA. Plasmodium sp. was detected in 34.16% (55/161) of the samples using qPCR based on the 18S rRNA gene. After sequencing, two samples showed 100% identityl to P. malariae, one showed 97% identity to Plasmodium sp. ZOOBH and one showed 99% identity to P. falciparum . PCR was shown to be the most sensitive technique for diagnosing Plasmodium in NHP samples.
Highlights
Malaria is one of the three most important infectious diseases in the world and is the parasitic disease accounting for the largest number of human deaths
nonhuman primates (NHPs) have been used as an experimental model for studies on human malaria, both because they are phylogenetically close to humans and because they are sensitive to infection by Plasmodium species that infect humans, such as P. falciparum and P. vivax (JOYNER et al, 2015)
We comparatively describe adaptations of techniques for diagnosing human malaria that were used to diagnose Plasmodium spp. in New World primates that were sampled on the island of São Luís, state of Maranhão, Brazil
Summary
Malaria is one of the three most important infectious diseases in the world and is the parasitic disease accounting for the largest number of human deaths. P. simium has been reported in Alouatta fusca, Brachyteles arachnoides (DEANE, 1992) and Alouatta caraya (DUARTE et al, 2008), but restricted to the Atlantic Forest in southeastern and southern Brazil, in the states of Espírito Santo, São Paulo, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul (DEANE, 1969) Both species, P. brasilianum and P. simium, may reflect a recent occurrence of zooanthropoonosis, through lateral transmission of human Plasmodium species to New World primates (TAZI & AYALA, 2011; LALREMRUATA et al, 2015; BRASIL et al, 2017). In a very recent study, P. simium was identified in humans living near the Atlantic Forest (BRASIL et al, 2017)
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