Small mammals are found naturally infected by Schistosoma mansoni, becoming a confounding factor for control programs of schistosomiasis in endemic areas. The aims of this study were: to investigate the infection rates by S. mansoni on the water-rat Nectomys squamipes during four years in endemic areas of Sumidouro, state of Rio de Janeiro, using mark-recapture technique; to compare two diagnostic methods for schistosomiasis; and to evaluate the effects of the chemotherapy in the human infected population on the rodent infection rates. The rodent infection rates of S. mansoni increased when rodent population sizes were lower. Coprology and serology results presented the same trends along time and were correlated. Serology could detect recent infection, including the false negatives in the coprology. The chemotherapy in the humans could not interrupt the rodent infection. Rodents can increase the schistosomiaisis transmission where it already exists, they probably maintain the transmission cycle in the nature and can be considered as biological indicators of the transmission sites of this parasite since they are highly susceptible to infection. The water-rats may present different levels of importance in the transmission dynamics of S. mansoni infection cycle for each area, and can be considered important wild-reservoirs of this human disease.Key words: diagnostic methods -population ecology -rodents -schistosomiasis Small mammals are found naturally infected by Schistosoma mansoni, becoming a confounding factor for control programs of schistosomiasis in endemic areas (Barbosa et al. 1958, Antunes et al. 1971, Rey 1993. Among the extra-human definitive hosts of this parasite, rodents of the genera Nectomys and Holochilus are the most probable wild reservoirs taking into account: (1) their semiaquatic habits (Ernest & Mares 1986), which make them highly exposed to infection; (2) their wide geographic distribution (Bonvicino 1994) coincident with the distribution of schistosomiasis in Brazil; (3) presence of infected individuals in most of the endemic areas where they were investigated, despite of the low human prevalence -rodents frequently showing higher infection rates in relation to human populations (Rey 1993); (4) rodent tolerance to human presence, occurring near human dwellings. Several experimental studies also support the hypothesis that water-rats are probable wild reservoirs of S. mansoni, showing high susceptibility to infection (Borda 1972, Souza et al. 1992, Maldonado Jr. et al. 1994, Ribeiro et al. 1998, somatic development hypertrophy of adult worms , elimination of viable eggs with high infectivity potential (Picot 1992), high infection persistence , low pathogenicity with efficient peri-ovular modulation and low tissue aggression (Silva & Andrade 1989), and ability to close the transmission cycle in semi-natural conditions (Antunes et al. 1973, Carvalho et al. 1976, Kawazoe & Pinto 1983. Infection of small mammals other than Nectomys and Holochilus by S. mansoni occurs only occasionally, especial...

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Long-term monitoring of small mammal populations is very important to understand the variations in temporal abundance on a large time scale, which are related to ecological, economic and epidemiological phenomena. The aim of this study is to monitor the populations of the marsupials Didelphis aurita and Philander frenatus and the rodents Nectomys squamipes, Akodon cursor and Oligorysomys nigripes in a locality of typical Brazilian rural landscape, Sumidouro Municipality, Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil. A mark-recapture study was conducted during five years. We analyzed the population dynamics, the reproduction and age structure of these species. Both marsupials presented higher population sizes in the end of wet period and beginning of the dry period, which can be explained by the seasonal reproduction which begins in the middle of the dry period and ends in the last months of the wet period. N. squamipes reproduced throughout the year but mostly during rainy periods, due to the close association of this rodent to resources found in the water. Higher survivorship and recruitment rates were in the end of the wet season. The rodent A. cursor had an opportunist reproduction, resulting in high turnover rates. Survivorship increased with the effects of the dry periods. O. nigripes showed a clear annual pattern of population cycle with peaks during the dry season. The rodents did not show potential to present outbreaks and become agricultural pests. The annual population cycles of O. nigripes and the unique peak of A. cursor population during five years highlight attention to their importance as wild reservoirs of the hantavirus disease. Their ecological characteristics associated to their opportunistic behavior make these species prone to be good reservoirs of zoonoses.

Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is a myeloid stem cell neoplasm characterized by an expansion of myeloid progenitor cells and the presence of BCR-ABL1 oncoprotein. Since the introduction of specific BCR-ABL1 tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI), overall survival has improved significantly. However, under long-term therapy patients may have residual disease that originates from TKI-resistant leukemic stem cells (LSC). In this work, we analyzed the miRNome of LSC-enriched CD34+CD38−CD26+ and normal hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) fractions obtained from the same chronic phase (CP) CML patients, and stem and progenitor cells obtained from healthy donors (HD) by next-generation sequencing. We detected a global decrease of microRNA levels in LSC-enriched CD34+CD38−CD26+ and HSC fractions from CML-CP patients, and decreased levels of microRNAs and snoRNAs from a genomic cluster in chromosome 14, suggesting a mechanism of silencing of multiple non-coding RNAs. Surprisingly, HSC from CML-CP patients, despite the absence of BCR-ABL1 expression, showed an altered miRNome. We confirmed by RT-qPCR that the levels of miR-196a-5p were increased more than nine-fold in CD26+ (BCR-ABL1+) vs. CD26− (BCR-ABL1−) CD34+CD38− fractions from CML-CP patients at diagnosis, and in silico analysis revealed a significant association to lipid metabolism and hematopoiesis functions. In the light of recent descriptions of increased oxidative metabolism in CML LSC-enriched fractions, these results serve as a guide for future functional studies that evaluate the role of microRNAs in this process. Metabolic vulnerabilities in LSCs open the road for new therapeutic strategies. This is the first report of the miRNome of CML-CP CD34+CD38− fractions that distinguishes between CD26+ (BCR-ABL1+) and their CD26− (BCR-ABL1-) counterparts, providing valuable data for future studies.

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Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is a myeloid stem cell neoplasm characterized by an expansion of myeloid progenitor cells and the presence of BCR-ABL1 oncoprotein. Since the introduction of specific BCR-ABL1 tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI), overall survival has improved significantly. However, under long-term therapy patients may have residual disease that originates from TKI-resistant leukemic stem cells (LSC). In this work, we analyzed the miRNome of CML LSC, normal hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) obtained from the same CML patients, and stem and progenitor cells obtained from healthy donors (HD) by next-generation sequencing. We detected a global decrease of microRNA levels in LSC and HSC from CML patients, and decreased levels of microRNAs and snoRNAs from a genomic cluster in chromosome 14, suggesting a mechanism of silencing of multiple non-coding RNAs. Surprisingly, HSC from CML patients, despite the absence of BCR-ABL1 expression, showed an altered miRNome. In silico analysis revealed an association between validated microRNAs and multiple metabolic pathways, suggesting that these molecules may be mediators of the previously reported dysregulation of LSC metabolism. This is the first report of the LSC miRNome that distinguishes between BCR-ABL1 + LSC and their BCR-ABL1counterparts, providing valuable data for future studies.