LeishmanCeres Laboratory (GLP Compliance Certified). Parasitology Unit. Veterinary Faculty, University of Extremadura, Avenida de la Universidad s/n, 10003 Cáceres, Spain.
Acta Trop. 2013 Dec;128(3):468-72. doi: 10.1016/j.actatropica.2013.07.007. Epub 2013 Aug 2.
Hair can accumulate foreign chemical or biological substances. Recently, it has been reported that parasite DNA can also be detected in the hair of Leishmania infantum infected dogs. The aim of this work has been to find out whether parasite DNA incorporates in the hair of Leishmania major experimentally infected animals. For this purpose, a group of 4 BALB/c mice, intradermally inoculated in both ears with 1000 L. major V1 strain promastigote forms, was monitored for parameters associated to the infection during 35 days. Weekly, ear swelling was measured, and hair samples from ears and leg were collected. Blood samples were obtained before challenge and at day 35 post infection, when parasite load was measured in ear, lymph node and spleen by limit dilution. Ear swelling and other parameters observed in the infected mice were consistent with those described for this model. The presence of parasite kinetoplast DNA (kDNA) was detected by Real Time PCR in all ear and leg hair samples at the final timepoint. These data suggests that hair is a specialized tissue in the sequestration and removal of foreign DNA. Detection of DNA in hair could be, therefore, a useful tool to chronologically record the infection process during experimental mice assays.
毛发可以蓄积外来的化学或生物物质。最近有报道称，在感染利什曼原虫的狗的毛发中也可以检测到寄生虫 DNA。本研究的目的是确定寄生虫 DNA 是否会整合到实验感染利什曼原虫的动物的毛发中。为此，将一组 4 只 BALB/c 小鼠，经皮双侧耳内接种 1000 个利什曼原虫 V1 株前鞭毛体，在 35 天内监测与感染相关的参数。每周测量耳肿胀，采集耳部和腿部的毛发样本。在挑战前和感染后第 35 天采集血液样本，通过限稀释法测量耳部、淋巴结和脾脏中的寄生虫载量。感染小鼠的耳肿胀和其他观察到的参数与该模型描述的一致。在最后时间点，通过实时 PCR 在所有耳部和腿部毛发样本中检测到寄生虫动基体 DNA（kDNA）。这些数据表明，毛发是一种专门的组织，用于隔离和去除外来 DNA。因此，在实验小鼠检测中，检测毛发中的 DNA 可能是一种有用的工具，可以用于按时间顺序记录感染过程。
