Tsakmakidis Ιoannis, Angelopoulou Katerina, Dovas Chrysostomos I, Dokianakis Εmmanouil, Tamvakis Αndroniki, Symeonidou Isaia, Antoniou Μaria, Diakou Αnastasia
Laboratory of Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases, School of Veterinary Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece.
Laboratory of Biochemistry and Toxicology, School of Veterinary Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece.
Trop Med Int Health. 2017 Dec;22(12):1523-1532. doi: 10.1111/tmi.12982. Epub 2017 Oct 24.
To investigate the prevalence of Leishmania infection in rodents from various areas of northern Greece.
Ninety-seven rodents (66 Mus musculus, 19 Rattus norvegicus and 12 R. rattus) were collected during pest control programmes and examined by cytology (spleen and liver smears), serology (ELISA) and PCR (real-time and gel-based) for Leishmania. Date, environment, sex, existence of dogs in the close environment were recorded for each rodent.
All cytological preparations were negative, whereas specific IgG was detected in 54.5% in total; 70% of R. norvegicus; 50% of R. rattus; and 50% of M. musculus. In at least one molecular method, 19.6% of the samples in total were positive: 25% of R. rattus, 24% of M. musculus, but no R. norvegicus was found positive. Environment (semi-urban areas, P = 0.037) and species (M. musculus, P = 0.032) were associated with positive PCR. All infected animals showed evidence of low parasite burden, demonstrated by the negative cytological examinations and the high Ct values observed in real-time PCR.
Due to the proximity of rodents to humans and dogs, these animals may be important in the epidemiology of leishmaniosis, especially if proven that they can infect sand flies.
调查希腊北部不同地区啮齿动物中利什曼原虫感染的流行情况。
在害虫防治项目中收集了97只啮齿动物（66只小家鼠、19只褐家鼠和12只黑家鼠），并通过细胞学检查（脾脏和肝脏涂片）、血清学检查（ELISA）和PCR（实时荧光定量PCR和普通PCR）检测利什曼原虫。记录每只啮齿动物的日期、环境、性别以及其周围环境中狗的存在情况。
所有细胞学检查结果均为阴性，而总体上54.5%检测到特异性IgG；褐家鼠中70%、黑家鼠中50%、小家鼠中50%检测到特异性IgG。至少采用一种分子方法检测时，总体样本中有19.6%呈阳性：黑家鼠中25%、小家鼠中24%，但未发现褐家鼠呈阳性。环境（半城市地区，P = 0.037）和物种（小家鼠，P = 0.032）与PCR阳性相关。所有感染动物的寄生虫载量均较低，这通过细胞学检查阴性和实时荧光定量PCR中观察到的高Ct值得以证明。
由于啮齿动物与人类和狗的接近，这些动物在利什曼病流行病学中可能具有重要意义，特别是如果证明它们能够感染白蛉的话。
