Chagas Disease and Leishmaniasis, Sympatric Zoonoses Present in Human from Rural Communities of Venezuela

• Published in: Acta parasitologica Vol. 69; no. 1; pp. 616 - 627
• Main Authors: Ferrer, Elizabeth, Aguilar, Cruz M., Viettri, Mercedes, Torrellas, Annhymariet, Lares, María, Diaz, Marietta, Delgado, Olinda, Feliciangeli, María D., Herrera, Leidi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 01-03-2024; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Animal Systematics/Taxonomy/Biogeography; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Blood; Blood clots; Blood coagulation; Chagas disease; Control programs; Ecology; Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; Hsp60 protein; Immunofluorescence; Indirect hemagglutination; Leishmania; Leishmaniasis; Leishmanin; Medical Microbiology; Microbiology; Original Paper; Parasitic diseases; Parasitology; Protozoa; Rural areas; Rural communities; Serology; Skin tests; Sympatric populations; Tropical diseases; Trypanosoma cruzi; Vector-borne diseases; Venezuela; Chagas disease; Coinfection; Leishmaniasis; Diagnosis; Leishmania; Trypanosoma cruzi
• ISSN: 1230-2821; 1896-1851; 1896-1851
• DOI: 10.1007/s11686-023-00786-8

Purpose
Trypanosoma cruzi
and
Leishmania
spp. coexist in several endemic areas, and there are few studies of Chagas disease and leishmaniasis coinfection worldwide; for this reason, the objective of this work was to determine the Chagas disease and leishmaniasis coinfection in several rural communities co-endemic for these diseases.
Methods
A total of 1107 human samples from six co-endemic rural communities of Cojedes state, Venezuela, were analyzed. Serum samples were evaluated by ELISA, indirect hemagglutination, and indirect immunofluorescence for Chagas disease diagnosis, and individuals were evaluated for leishmaniasis by leishmanin skin test (LST). Approximately, 30% of the individuals were also analyzed by PCR (blood clot samples) for
T. cruzi
and for
Leishmania
spp.
Results
The 14.7% of the individuals were positive to
Trypanosoma cruzi
infection by serology, and 25.8% were positive to
Leishmania
spp. current or past infection by LST. Among the group with PCR results, 7.8% were positive for
T. cruzi
, and 9.4% for
Leishmania
spp. The coinfection
T. cruzi
/
Leishmania
spp. was 6.5%. The
T. cruzi
DTUs of the positive blood clot samples were TcI, revealed using the molecular markers: (i) intergenic region of the miniexon, (ii) D7 divergent domain of the 24Sα rDNA, (iii) size-variable domain of the 18S rDNA, and (iv) hsp60-PCR–RFLP (EcoRV). The
Leishmania
species identified were
L. (Leishmania) mexicana
and
L. (Viannia) braziliensis.
Conclusion
A high prevalence was found for
T. cruzi
and
Leishmania
spp. single and coinfections in almost all communities studied, being these results of relevance for the implementation of control programs in co-endemic areas.