Barrett Michael P, Cooper Jonathan M, Regnault Clément, Holm Stefan H, Beech Jason P, Tegenfeldt Jonas O, Hochstetter Axel
Wellcome Centre for Molecular Parasitology, Institute of Infection, Immunity and Inflammation, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8TA, UK.
Division of Biomedical Engineering, School of Engineering, University of Glasgow, G12 8LT, Glasgow, UK.
Pathogens. 2017 Oct 5;6(4):47. doi: 10.3390/pathogens6040047.
African trypanosomes are responsible for significant levels of disease in both humans and animals. The protozoan parasites are free-living flagellates, usually transmitted by arthropod vectors, including the tsetse fly. In the mammalian host they live in the bloodstream and, in the case of human-infectious species, later invade the central nervous system. Diagnosis of the disease requires the positive identification of parasites in the bloodstream. This can be particularly challenging where parasite numbers are low, as is often the case in peripheral blood. Enriching parasites from body fluids is an important part of the diagnostic pathway. As more is learned about the physicochemical properties of trypanosomes, this information can be exploited through use of different microfluidic-based approaches to isolate the parasites from blood or other fluids. Here, we discuss recent advances in the use of microfluidics to separate trypanosomes from blood and to isolate single trypanosomes for analyses including drug screening.
非洲锥虫在人类和动物中导致了严重的疾病。这些原生动物寄生虫是自由生活的鞭毛虫，通常通过节肢动物媒介传播，包括采采蝇。在哺乳动物宿主中，它们生活在血液中，对于感染人类的物种来说，随后会侵入中枢神经系统。该疾病的诊断需要在血液中准确鉴定出寄生虫。当寄生虫数量较少时，这可能极具挑战性，外周血中通常就是这种情况。从体液中富集寄生虫是诊断流程的重要环节。随着对锥虫物理化学性质的了解越来越多，这些信息可通过使用不同的基于微流控的方法来加以利用，以便从血液或其他体液中分离出寄生虫。在此，我们讨论利用微流控技术从血液中分离锥虫以及分离单个锥虫用于包括药物筛选在内的分析的最新进展。
