The Parasite Load of Trypanosoma cruzi Modulates Feeding and Defecation Patterns of the Chagas Disease Vector Triatoma infestans

Trypanosoma cruzi is the causal agent of Chagas disease, a parasitic zoonosis transmitted mainly through the feces of triatomine insects. Triatoma infestans is the main triatomine vector of this disease in South America. Previous research has shown that T. cruzi infection modifies the behavior of tr...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Chacón, Francisco, Bacigalupo, Antonella, Álvarez-Duhart, Bárbara, Cattan, Pedro E., Solís, Rigoberto, Muñoz-San Martín, Catalina
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9143535/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35630447
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms10051003
_version_ 1784715830015033344
author Chacón, Francisco
Bacigalupo, Antonella
Álvarez-Duhart, Bárbara
Cattan, Pedro E.
Solís, Rigoberto
Muñoz-San Martín, Catalina
author_facet Chacón, Francisco
Bacigalupo, Antonella
Álvarez-Duhart, Bárbara
Cattan, Pedro E.
Solís, Rigoberto
Muñoz-San Martín, Catalina
author_sort Chacón, Francisco
collection PubMed
description Trypanosoma cruzi is the causal agent of Chagas disease, a parasitic zoonosis transmitted mainly through the feces of triatomine insects. Triatoma infestans is the main triatomine vector of this disease in South America. Previous research has shown that T. cruzi infection modifies the behavior of triatomines. We evaluated, for the first time, the effect of parasite load on feeding and defecation behavior, which we quantified by using real-time PCR. The detection time of the host was shorter in infected individuals, and the number of bites increased, while the dejection time was reduced when compared with the non-infected group. A significant correlation between the parasite load and the behavioral changes registered in the infected triatomines was found. These results would indicate that the intensity of T. cruzi infection modulates the feeding and defecation behavior of T. infestans, increasing the vector competence of this triatomine vector.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-9143535
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2022
publisher MDPI
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-91435352022-05-29 The Parasite Load of Trypanosoma cruzi Modulates Feeding and Defecation Patterns of the Chagas Disease Vector Triatoma infestans Chacón, Francisco Bacigalupo, Antonella Álvarez-Duhart, Bárbara Cattan, Pedro E. Solís, Rigoberto Muñoz-San Martín, Catalina Microorganisms Article Trypanosoma cruzi is the causal agent of Chagas disease, a parasitic zoonosis transmitted mainly through the feces of triatomine insects. Triatoma infestans is the main triatomine vector of this disease in South America. Previous research has shown that T. cruzi infection modifies the behavior of triatomines. We evaluated, for the first time, the effect of parasite load on feeding and defecation behavior, which we quantified by using real-time PCR. The detection time of the host was shorter in infected individuals, and the number of bites increased, while the dejection time was reduced when compared with the non-infected group. A significant correlation between the parasite load and the behavioral changes registered in the infected triatomines was found. These results would indicate that the intensity of T. cruzi infection modulates the feeding and defecation behavior of T. infestans, increasing the vector competence of this triatomine vector. MDPI 2022-05-10 /pmc/articles/PMC9143535/ /pubmed/35630447 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms10051003 Text en © 2022 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/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 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Chacón, Francisco
Bacigalupo, Antonella
Álvarez-Duhart, Bárbara
Cattan, Pedro E.
Solís, Rigoberto
Muñoz-San Martín, Catalina
The Parasite Load of Trypanosoma cruzi Modulates Feeding and Defecation Patterns of the Chagas Disease Vector Triatoma infestans
title The Parasite Load of Trypanosoma cruzi Modulates Feeding and Defecation Patterns of the Chagas Disease Vector Triatoma infestans
title_full The Parasite Load of Trypanosoma cruzi Modulates Feeding and Defecation Patterns of the Chagas Disease Vector Triatoma infestans
title_fullStr The Parasite Load of Trypanosoma cruzi Modulates Feeding and Defecation Patterns of the Chagas Disease Vector Triatoma infestans
title_full_unstemmed The Parasite Load of Trypanosoma cruzi Modulates Feeding and Defecation Patterns of the Chagas Disease Vector Triatoma infestans
title_short The Parasite Load of Trypanosoma cruzi Modulates Feeding and Defecation Patterns of the Chagas Disease Vector Triatoma infestans
title_sort parasite load of trypanosoma cruzi modulates feeding and defecation patterns of the chagas disease vector triatoma infestans
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9143535/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35630447
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms10051003
work_keys_str_mv AT chaconfrancisco theparasiteloadoftrypanosomacruzimodulatesfeedinganddefecationpatternsofthechagasdiseasevectortriatomainfestans
AT bacigalupoantonella theparasiteloadoftrypanosomacruzimodulatesfeedinganddefecationpatternsofthechagasdiseasevectortriatomainfestans
AT alvarezduhartbarbara theparasiteloadoftrypanosomacruzimodulatesfeedinganddefecationpatternsofthechagasdiseasevectortriatomainfestans
AT cattanpedroe theparasiteloadoftrypanosomacruzimodulatesfeedinganddefecationpatternsofthechagasdiseasevectortriatomainfestans
AT solisrigoberto theparasiteloadoftrypanosomacruzimodulatesfeedinganddefecationpatternsofthechagasdiseasevectortriatomainfestans
AT munozsanmartincatalina theparasiteloadoftrypanosomacruzimodulatesfeedinganddefecationpatternsofthechagasdiseasevectortriatomainfestans
AT chaconfrancisco parasiteloadoftrypanosomacruzimodulatesfeedinganddefecationpatternsofthechagasdiseasevectortriatomainfestans
AT bacigalupoantonella parasiteloadoftrypanosomacruzimodulatesfeedinganddefecationpatternsofthechagasdiseasevectortriatomainfestans
AT alvarezduhartbarbara parasiteloadoftrypanosomacruzimodulatesfeedinganddefecationpatternsofthechagasdiseasevectortriatomainfestans
AT cattanpedroe parasiteloadoftrypanosomacruzimodulatesfeedinganddefecationpatternsofthechagasdiseasevectortriatomainfestans
AT solisrigoberto parasiteloadoftrypanosomacruzimodulatesfeedinganddefecationpatternsofthechagasdiseasevectortriatomainfestans
AT munozsanmartincatalina parasiteloadoftrypanosomacruzimodulatesfeedinganddefecationpatternsofthechagasdiseasevectortriatomainfestans