Natural infection of Ctenodactylus gundi by Leishmania major in Tunisia

Ghawar, Wissem; Bettaieb, Jihéne; Salem, Sadok; Snoussi, Mohammed-Ali; Jaouadi, Kaouther; Yazidi, Rihab; Salah, Afif Ben

doi:10.1016/j.actatropica.2017.09.022

Cited by 6 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 34 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The ear skin lesions were not ulcerative, well-tolerated, or even healed, and animals were highly infectious to sand flies, of the tested species most accurately mimicking the features of the natural host of L. major. In natural reservoirs, visceralisation of L. major was observed repeatedly-bone marrow, lymph node and spleen of Psammomys obesus and spleen and liver of C. gundi caught in Tunisia were identified as positive by ITS1-PCR [23,24] and spleen and liver of gerbils and Rattus rattus were shown to be PCR-positive in southern Iran [25,26].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Central Asian Rodents as Model Animals for Leishmania major and Leishmania donovani Research

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The clinical manifestation of leishmaniases depends on parasite species, host genetic background, and immune response. Manifestations of human leishmaniases are highly variable, ranging from self-healing skin lesions to fatal visceral disease. The scope of standard model hosts is insufficient to mimic well the wide disease spectrum, which compels the introduction of new model animals for leishmaniasis research. In this article, we study the susceptibility of three Asian rodent species (Cricetulus griseus, Lagurus lagurus, and Phodopus sungorus) to Leishmania major and L. donovani. The external manifestation of the disease, distribution, as well as load of parasites and infectiousness to natural sand fly vectors, were compared with standard models, BALB/c mice and Mesocricetus auratus. No significant differences were found in disease outcomes in animals inoculated with sand fly- or culture-derived parasites. All Asian rodent species were highly susceptible to L. major. Phodopus sungorus showed the non-healing phenotype with the progressive growth of ulcerative lesions and massive parasite loads. Lagurus lagurus and C. griseus represented the healing phenotype, the latter with high infectiousness to vectors, mimicking best the character of natural reservoir hosts. Both, L. lagurus and C. griseus were also highly susceptible to L. donovani, having wider parasite distribution and higher parasite loads and infectiousness than standard model animals.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Central Asian Rodents as Model Animals for Leishmania major and Leishmania donovani Research

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Despite these variations, the overall infection prevalence in these rodent spp. (more than 80%) remains the highest compared to previous proportions observed among the potential and/or confirmed rodent reservoir hosts in Tunisia using parasitological, serological, or molecular tools [ 7 , 9 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 38 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 80%

“…This novel finding could constitute a breakthrough in understanding the transmission cycles of Old World cutaneous leishmaniasis, with implications for control. Confirmed or suspected reservoir hosts have been identified following the discovery of Leishmania parasites in numerous studies [ 7 , 9 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…tropica ), the causative agent of chronic CL in urban endemic microfoci, known to be anthroponotic, has been strongly suspected to be zoonotic, especially with evidence of Ctenodactylus ( C .) gundi (Rothmann, 1776) infection [ 8 , 9 ]. Several studies have shown that Leishmania parasites can infect small mammals in Tunisia, including the least weasel [ 7 ] and hedgehog [ 10 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

First Report of Two Jaculus Rodents as Potential Reservoir Hosts of Leishmania Parasites in Tunisia

et al. 2022

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This study shows, for the first time, natural Leishmania infection among Jaculus spp. in an endemic region of Tataouine, South Tunisia. To better characterize the transmission cycles in this complex focus of mixed transmission, Leishmania detection and species identification were performed by direct examination, internal transcribed spacer-1 (ITS1)-PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP), and sequencing of Jaculus (J.) jaculus (Linnaeus, 1758) and J. hirtipes (Lichtenstein, 1823) rodent species, which are frequently encountered in this area. Leishmania parasites were observed in 19 (41.3%) smears, while DNA parasites were detected in 28 (60.9%) Jaculus spp. spleens; among them, 12 (54.5%) were from 22 J. jaculus individuals and 16 (66.7%) were from 24 J. hirtipes individuals. Leishmania parasites were confirmed as Leishmania (L.) killicki (syn. L. tropica) in two J. hirtipes individuals (4.3%) and L. major (n = 24; 52.2%) in 10 J. jaculus and 14 J. hirtipes individuals. This finding represents the first evidence of natural infection with Leishmania parasites in rodents belonging to the Jaculus genus, providing the rationale to consider them as potential reservoir hosts of Old World Leishmania parasites in Tunisia and North Africa.

show abstract

“…Along with dogs, other animals can develop infections from multiple human Leishmania spp. including cats, horses, sheep, hyrax, snakes, lizards, sloths, foxes, and numerous rodents such as the fat sand rat [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15]. Furthermore, with some regional differences, roughly 10% of all dogs in Southwestern Europe and 2-50% of dogs in various regions of Brazil are estimated to be carriers of canine leishmaniasis, therefore public health strategies to control human leishmaniasis must and do consider the possibility of zoonotic reservoir hosts for Leishmania species [16][17][18].…”

Section: Pathogenesis Of Leishmaniasismentioning

confidence: 99%

From infection to vaccination: reviewing the global burden, history of vaccine development, and recurring challenges in global leishmaniasis protection

Volpedo

Huston

Holcomb

et al. 2021

Expert Review of Vaccines

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Introduction: Leishmaniasis is a major public health problem and the second most lethal parasitic disease in the world due to the lack of effective treatments and vaccines. Even when not lethal, leishmaniasis significantly affects individuals and communities through life-long disabilities, psychosociological trauma, poverty, and gender disparity in treatment.Areas covered: This review discusses the most relevant and recent research available on Pubmed and GoogleScholar highlighting leishmaniasis' global impact, pathogenesis, treatment options, and lack of effective control strategies. An effective vaccine is necessary to prevent morbidity and mortality, lower health care costs, and reduce the economic burden of leishmaniasis for endemic low-and middle-income countries. Since there are several forms of leishmaniasis, a pan-Leishmania vaccine without geographical restrictions is needed. This review also focuses on recent advances and common challenges in developing prophylactic strategies against leishmaniasis. Expert opinion: Despite advances in pre-clinical vaccine research, approval of a human leishmaniasis vaccine still faces major challenges -including manufacturing of candidate vaccines under Good Manufacturing Practices, developing well-designed clinical trials suitable in endemic countries, and defined correlates of protection. In addition, there is a need to explore Challenge Human Infection Model to avoid large trials because of fluctuating incidence and prevalence of leishmanasis.

show abstract

Natural infection of Ctenodactylus gundi by Leishmania major in Tunisia

Cited by 6 publications

References 34 publications

Central Asian Rodents as Model Animals for Leishmania major and Leishmania donovani Research

Central Asian Rodents as Model Animals for Leishmania major and Leishmania donovani Research

First Report of Two Jaculus Rodents as Potential Reservoir Hosts of Leishmania Parasites in Tunisia

From infection to vaccination: reviewing the global burden, history of vaccine development, and recurring challenges in global leishmaniasis protection

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About