Trypanosoma cruzi : blood parasitism kinetics and their correlation with heart parasitism intensity during long-term infection of Beagle dogs.
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Date
2008
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Abstract
The goals of the present study were to evaluate the kinetics of blood parasitism by examination of fresh blood,
blood culture (BC) and PCR assays and their correlation with heart parasitism during two years of infection in
Beagle dogs inoculated with the Be-78, Y and ABC Trypanosoma cruzi strains. Our results showed that the parasite
or its kDNA is easily detected during the acute phase in all infected animals. On the other hand, a reduced number of
positive tests were verified during the chronic phase of the infection. The frequency of positive tests was correlated
with T. cruzi strain. The percentage of positive BC and blood PCR performed in samples from animals inoculated
with Be-78 and ABC strains were similar and significantly larger in relation to animals infected with the Y strain.
Comparison of the positivity of PCR tests performed using blood and heart tissue samples obtained two years after
infection showed two different patterns associated with the inoculated T. cruzi strain: (1) high PCR positivity for
both blood and tissue was observed in animals infected with Be-78 or ABC strains; (2) lower and higher PCR positivity
for the blood and tissue, respectively, was detected in animals infected with Y strains. These data suggest that
the sensitivity of BC and blood PCR was T. cruzi strain dependent and, in contrast, the heart tissue PCR revealed
higher sensitivity regardless of the parasite stock.
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Keywords
Parasitemia, Blood culture, Blood and tissue PCR
Citation
VELOSO, V. M. et al. Trypanosoma cruzi: blood parasitism kinetics and their correlation with heart parasitism intensity during long-term infection of Beagle dogs. Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, v. 103, n. 6, p. 528-534, set. 2008. Disponível em: <http://www.scielo.br/pdf/mioc/v103n6/03.pdf>. Acesso em: 21 out. 2015