Cargando…

Serological and Molecular Findings of Leishmania Infection in Healthy Donkeys (Equus asinus) from a Canine Leishmaniosis Endemic Focus in Tuscany, Italy: A Preliminary Report

Leishmania parasites are considered to be emergent zoonotic pathogens, which is a new concept regarding their epidemiology and the identification of novel animal hosts. The present study is the first in Italy to evaluate anti Leishmania seroprevalence, and the first in Europe to detect parasite DNA...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Nardoni, Simona, Altomonte, Iolanda, Salari, Federica, Martini, Mina, Mancianti, Francesca
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2019
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6789632/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31323973
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/pathogens8030099
_version_ 1783458665417670656
author Nardoni, Simona
Altomonte, Iolanda
Salari, Federica
Martini, Mina
Mancianti, Francesca
author_facet Nardoni, Simona
Altomonte, Iolanda
Salari, Federica
Martini, Mina
Mancianti, Francesca
author_sort Nardoni, Simona
collection PubMed
description Leishmania parasites are considered to be emergent zoonotic pathogens, which is a new concept regarding their epidemiology and the identification of novel animal hosts. The present study is the first in Italy to evaluate anti Leishmania seroprevalence, and the first in Europe to detect parasite DNA in donkeys’ blood. The study was performed on jennies living in a Leishmania infantum endemic area of Central Italy. One hundred and ten blood samples were obtained from 67 healthy lactating Amiatina jennies that were semi-extensively reared in Tuscany. When possible, more than one sample was subsequently obtained from the same subject. All samples were processed by immunofluorescence antibody test (IFAT) and by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). For the results, 11 out of 30 animals (36.7%) showed positive scores under IFAT. In addition, 22 out of the other 37 jennies had positive scores, also. The animals showed titers ranging from 40 to 320. Furthermore, 2 subjects that were submitted for 2 and 3 blood samplings, both had more than one positive score. Moreover, 2 seropositive animals were positive for Leishmania DNA. Donkeys are considered to be a preferred source for a sandfly blood meal, even if clinical leishmaniosis has never been reported in Europe for this animal species. In the view of these facts, our preliminary findings would suggest the role of donkey as a potential reservoir for this protozoan agent. Additional studies would be welcome to elucidate the role of the donkey in Leishmania epidemiology of CanL endemic areas and to confirm the preliminary findings and the hypothesis proposed here.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-6789632
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2019
publisher MDPI
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-67896322019-10-16 Serological and Molecular Findings of Leishmania Infection in Healthy Donkeys (Equus asinus) from a Canine Leishmaniosis Endemic Focus in Tuscany, Italy: A Preliminary Report Nardoni, Simona Altomonte, Iolanda Salari, Federica Martini, Mina Mancianti, Francesca Pathogens Brief Report Leishmania parasites are considered to be emergent zoonotic pathogens, which is a new concept regarding their epidemiology and the identification of novel animal hosts. The present study is the first in Italy to evaluate anti Leishmania seroprevalence, and the first in Europe to detect parasite DNA in donkeys’ blood. The study was performed on jennies living in a Leishmania infantum endemic area of Central Italy. One hundred and ten blood samples were obtained from 67 healthy lactating Amiatina jennies that were semi-extensively reared in Tuscany. When possible, more than one sample was subsequently obtained from the same subject. All samples were processed by immunofluorescence antibody test (IFAT) and by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). For the results, 11 out of 30 animals (36.7%) showed positive scores under IFAT. In addition, 22 out of the other 37 jennies had positive scores, also. The animals showed titers ranging from 40 to 320. Furthermore, 2 subjects that were submitted for 2 and 3 blood samplings, both had more than one positive score. Moreover, 2 seropositive animals were positive for Leishmania DNA. Donkeys are considered to be a preferred source for a sandfly blood meal, even if clinical leishmaniosis has never been reported in Europe for this animal species. In the view of these facts, our preliminary findings would suggest the role of donkey as a potential reservoir for this protozoan agent. Additional studies would be welcome to elucidate the role of the donkey in Leishmania epidemiology of CanL endemic areas and to confirm the preliminary findings and the hypothesis proposed here. MDPI 2019-07-09 /pmc/articles/PMC6789632/ /pubmed/31323973 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/pathogens8030099 Text en © 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Brief Report
Nardoni, Simona
Altomonte, Iolanda
Salari, Federica
Martini, Mina
Mancianti, Francesca
Serological and Molecular Findings of Leishmania Infection in Healthy Donkeys (Equus asinus) from a Canine Leishmaniosis Endemic Focus in Tuscany, Italy: A Preliminary Report
title Serological and Molecular Findings of Leishmania Infection in Healthy Donkeys (Equus asinus) from a Canine Leishmaniosis Endemic Focus in Tuscany, Italy: A Preliminary Report
title_full Serological and Molecular Findings of Leishmania Infection in Healthy Donkeys (Equus asinus) from a Canine Leishmaniosis Endemic Focus in Tuscany, Italy: A Preliminary Report
title_fullStr Serological and Molecular Findings of Leishmania Infection in Healthy Donkeys (Equus asinus) from a Canine Leishmaniosis Endemic Focus in Tuscany, Italy: A Preliminary Report
title_full_unstemmed Serological and Molecular Findings of Leishmania Infection in Healthy Donkeys (Equus asinus) from a Canine Leishmaniosis Endemic Focus in Tuscany, Italy: A Preliminary Report
title_short Serological and Molecular Findings of Leishmania Infection in Healthy Donkeys (Equus asinus) from a Canine Leishmaniosis Endemic Focus in Tuscany, Italy: A Preliminary Report
title_sort serological and molecular findings of leishmania infection in healthy donkeys (equus asinus) from a canine leishmaniosis endemic focus in tuscany, italy: a preliminary report
topic Brief Report
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6789632/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31323973
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/pathogens8030099
work_keys_str_mv AT nardonisimona serologicalandmolecularfindingsofleishmaniainfectioninhealthydonkeysequusasinusfromacanineleishmaniosisendemicfocusintuscanyitalyapreliminaryreport
AT altomonteiolanda serologicalandmolecularfindingsofleishmaniainfectioninhealthydonkeysequusasinusfromacanineleishmaniosisendemicfocusintuscanyitalyapreliminaryreport
AT salarifederica serologicalandmolecularfindingsofleishmaniainfectioninhealthydonkeysequusasinusfromacanineleishmaniosisendemicfocusintuscanyitalyapreliminaryreport
AT martinimina serologicalandmolecularfindingsofleishmaniainfectioninhealthydonkeysequusasinusfromacanineleishmaniosisendemicfocusintuscanyitalyapreliminaryreport
AT manciantifrancesca serologicalandmolecularfindingsofleishmaniainfectioninhealthydonkeysequusasinusfromacanineleishmaniosisendemicfocusintuscanyitalyapreliminaryreport