Cryptosporidium muris-like Infection in Stomach of Cynomolgus Monkeys (Macaca fascicularis)

Abstract

Abstract. Protozoa were present in routine sections of the gastric fundus of 15 cynomolgus monkeys (Macaca fascicularis) that were being studied in three toxicity studies with novel immunosuppressive agents. Upon detailed light microscopic and ultrastructural evaluation, all stages of parasite development (trophozoites, schizonts, gamonts, and oocysts) were seen and they structurally resembled Cryptosporidium muris, which normally is found in stomachs of rodents. Cryptosporidia were primarily present in the upper one third of fundic glands that were often concurrently colonized by a Helicobacter heilmannii-like organism; however, no clear correlation was found between bacterial burden and the number of protozoa. The primarily mononuclear cellular infiltrate appeared to coincide with the presence of protozoa only in a few animals. Changes in mucous epithelial cells mainly occurred in animals that were part of a 39-week study. Mucous epithelial cells in affected glands contained an increased amount of mucus composed of predominantly acid mucosubstances compared to the normally present neutral mucosubstances. C. muris-like protozoa are newly recognized etiologies for opportunistic infections in the stomach of immunocompromized nonhuman primates. This is the first report of C. muris-like parasite in stomachs of monkeys.

Development of a Multilocus Sequence Tool for Typing Cryptosporidium muris and Cryptosporidium andersoni

“…Phylogenetic relationships among subtypes of C. muris, the C. muris variant, and C. andersoni as assessed by a neighbor-joining analysis of the concatenated nucleotide sequences of four microsatellite and minisatellite loci (MS1, MS2, MS3, and MS16), using distance calculated by the Kimura two-parameter model. 3 and (GAACGA GATAGG) [14][15][16][17][18] (TAAAGAGAGAGA) 6 and (GAACGAGATAGG) 14 (TAAAGGGCGAGA) 3 and (GAACGAGATAGG) 13-14 CM-MS2 (CCATATCCC) [3][4] and (CCATACCTC) 3 (CCCATTCCT) 4 (CCATACCTC) 10-11 CM-MS3 (TGTTGG) [8][9] and (GCTGCA) 6 (TGTTGG) 7 and (TGC) 10 (TGTTGGTGTTGCTGT) 2 and (TGCTGCAGCTGC) 2-3 CM-MS16…”

“…Cryptosporidium muris is well known to have broad host specificity. In addition to various rodent species, natural C. muris infections have been documented for pigs, Bactrian camels, giraffes, dogs, cats, nonhuman primates, seals, bilbies, and tawny frogmouth (3,16,17,20,22,26,27,29,32,34,37,38,40,44). In contrast, C. andersoni is mostly a parasite of cattle, having been found only occasionally in other animals such as Bactrian camels, sheep, and goats.…”

Cryptosporidium Taxonomy: Recent Advances and Implications for Public Health

“…Recent molecular characterizations of C. muris and C. muris-like parasites have indicated that all bovine isolates are C. andersoni. Recent studies have shown C. muris to be capable of infecting a wide range of additional hosts including hamsters, squirrels, Siberian chipmunks, wood mice (Apodemus sylvaticus), bank voles (Clethrionomys glareolus), Dolichotis patagonum, rock hyrax, bactrian camels, mountain goats, humans, and cynomolgus monkeys (10,39,52,69,82,145,168,216,223,256; L. Xiao, unpublished data).…”

Cryptosporidium muris: Infectivity and Illness in Healthy Adult Volunteers

“…11,12 This anatomical location has been described in a number of mammalian species, 13 including immunosuppressed cynomolgus monkeys. 14 However, this has not been confirmed in humans. Regardless of infection site, diarrhea is the most common manifestation of C. muris infection in humans.…”