Trypanosoma cruzi load in synanthropic rodents from rural areas in Chile

Esteban Yefi-Quinteros,Juana P. Correa,Antonella Bacigalupo,Pedro E. Cattan,Catalina Muñoz-San Martín

doi:10.1186/s13071-018-2771-2

Abstract

BackgroundTrypanosoma cruzi is the agent of Chagas disease, a major public health problem in Latin America. Many wild and domestic animals are naturally infected with T. cruzi; rodents are one of the groups which have been consistently detected infected in different countries. The aim of this work was to characterize blood T. cruzi load in naturally infected rodents from a Chagas disease endemic region in Chile.MethodsBaited traps were set in domestic and peridomestic areas of rural dwellings. The rodents were anesthetized and blood sampled; DNA was extracted and the parasite load was quantified by T. cruzi satellite DNA real-time PCR assays.ResultsSeventy-one rodents of four species, Rattus rattus, Mus musculus, Phyllotis darwini and Octodon degus, were captured; R. rattus was the most abundant species. Fifty-nine samples (83.1%) were T. cruzi-positive and the median value of the parasite load was 2.99 parasite equivalents (par-eq)/ml. The comparison of frequency of infection or parasite load by species showed no differences. However, one R. rattus presented very elevated parasitemia (1644 par-eq/ml).ConclusionsThe overall levels of parasitemia were similar to those found in humans in Chile. The high infection levels in exotic and endemic rodents very near to rural settlements increases their relevance as T. cruzi hosts.

Highlights

Trypanosoma cruzi is the agent of Chagas disease, a major public health problem in Latin America
The protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi is the causative agent of Chagas disease, a complex zoonosis transmitted by about 150 hematophagous triatomine species and supported by more than 100 species of mammals, from the southern United States to Argentina and Chile [1]
Collection area Rodents were collected from Coquimbo Region, a Chagas disease endemic zone located in the North-Central zone of Chile (Fig. 1), which is characterized by an arid Mediterranean climate

Summary

Introduction

Trypanosoma cruzi is the agent of Chagas disease, a major public health problem in Latin America. The protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi is the causative agent of Chagas disease, a complex zoonosis transmitted by about 150 hematophagous triatomine species and supported by more than 100 species of mammals, from the southern United States to Argentina and Chile [1] This neglected vector-borne disease is one of the most important parasitic infections in Latin America [2]. The frequency of infection by T. cruzi in exotic and endemic rodents in Chile has been estimated previously by detecting mitochondrial kinetoplastic DNA of T. cruzi with conventional PCR assays, reaching levels of infection about 25–41% in Phyllotis darwini [8, 9], 13–70% in Octodon degus and 27% in Rattus rattus [5, 8] in sylvatic areas Their relevance as hosts of T. cruzi in Chile has not been established previously in the peridomestic and domestic environment. In this work we evaluated the parasitic load in rodents from an endemic area for Chagas disease, discussing their role as hosts of Trypanosoma cruzi

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