Abstract
Trypanosomosis, a globally occurring parasitic disease, poses as a major obstacle to livestock production in tropical and subtropical regions resulting in tangible economic losses. In Latin America including Venezuela, trypanosomosis of ruminants is mainly caused by Trypanosoma vivax. Biologically active substances produced from trypanosomes, as well as host-trypanosome cellular interactions, contribute to the pathogenesis of anemia in an infection. The aim of this study was to examine with a scanning electron microscope the cellular interactions and alterations in ovine red blood cells (RBC) experimentally infected with T. vivax. Ovine infection resulted in changes of RBC shape as well as the formation of surface holes or vesicles. A frequent observation was the adhesion to the ovine RBC by the trypanosome's free flagellum, cell body, or attached flagellum in a process mediated by the filopodia emission from the trypanosome surface. The observed RBC alterations are caused by mechanical and biochemical damage from host-parasite interactions occurring in the bloodstream. The altered erythrocytes are prone to mononuclear phagocytic removal contributing to the hematocrit decrease during infection.
Highlights
In Venezuela, trypanosomosis, a globally occurring parasitic disease, in animals is mainly caused by Trypanosoma vivax
The aim of this study was to examine, with a scanning electron microscope (SEM), the cellular interactions and alterations in ovine red blood cells (RBC) experimentally infected with a Venezuelan T. vivax isolate
Scanning electron microscopy showed the interaction of T. vivax with sheep RBCs
Summary
In Venezuela, trypanosomosis, a globally occurring parasitic disease, in animals is mainly caused by Trypanosoma vivax. The detrimental effects produced by T. vivax in livestock include growth retardation, loss of body weight, low production of animal proteins (meat and milk) [1, 2], and diminished fertility [3]. These effects are responsible for increasing production costs through an increased need for treatment and veterinary care [4,5,6]. The anemia developed by animals is considered the most characteristic symptom [7] It seems that the anemia is hemolytic in nature, intravascular in the early stages of the disease, and extravascular in the chronic phase [6, 8]
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