Muñoz Pamela, Hirzmann Jörg, Rodriguez Elsa, Moroni Manuel, Taubert Anja, Gibbons Lynda, Hermosilla Carlos, Gómez Marcelo
Institute of Animal Pathology, Austral University of Chile, Valdivia, Chile.
Institute of Parasitology, Justus Liebig University Giessen, 35392 Giessen, Germany.
Vet Parasitol Reg Stud Reports. 2017 Dec;10:119-125. doi: 10.1016/j.vprsr.2017.10.001. Epub 2017 Oct 4.
Gurltia paralysans is a poorly documented metastrongyloid nematode of cats, which mainly parasitizes the veins in the spinal cord subarachnoid space and parenchyma. Parasitic paraparesis caused by G. paralysans is a lesser-known spinal cord disease affecting domestic and wild felids of South America. Regions where feline gurltiosis is endemic include the southern parts of Chile and Argentina. Intra vitam diagnosis of feline gurltiosis remains challenging and is based primarily on neurological signs and the exclusion of other ethiologies for feline myelopathies. In view of the lack of information in the literature for this neglected feline neurological parasitosis, we have undertaken a detailed redescription and molecular characterization to expand on the previously available details in the original descriptions by Wolffhügel in 1993. The specimens used in this study were collected from spinal cord lesions of gurltiosis-affected domestic cats. Female and male specimens were morphologically and morphometrically examined using light and scanning electron microscopy. Molecular characterization was performed by sequencing a partial region of the nuclear ribosomal DNA and cytochrome oxidase gene of this parasite, and phylogenetic trees were constructed from the 28S D2-D3 and ITS2 regions using the Maximum Likelihood method. Sequence matching and phylogenetic analysis with these new sequences were consistent with the morphological classification of G. paralysans being within the Metastrongyloidea superfamily, but no consistent relation to a specific metastrongyloid family. The newly developed G. paralysans-specific PCR described here not only provides a useful diagnostic tool for feline gurltiosis in domestic cats living in endemic areas, but could also be used in large-scale epidemiological surveys on the intermediate mollusk host and the final host. By combining the morphology, molecular, and phylogenetic data we have reliably identified G. paralysans and confirmed its taxonomic status within the Metastrongyloidea.
麻痹古氏线虫是一种记录较少的猫类后圆线虫，主要寄生于脊髓蛛网膜下腔和实质的静脉中。由麻痹古氏线虫引起的寄生性轻截瘫是一种鲜为人知的脊髓疾病，影响南美洲的家猫和野猫。猫古氏线虫病的流行地区包括智利和阿根廷南部。猫古氏线虫病的生前诊断仍然具有挑战性，主要基于神经症状以及排除猫脊髓病的其他病因。鉴于文献中关于这种被忽视的猫神经寄生虫病的信息匮乏，我们进行了详细的重新描述和分子特征分析，以扩展沃尔夫许格尔在1993年原始描述中先前可用的细节。本研究中使用的标本取自受古氏线虫病影响的家猫的脊髓病变。使用光学显微镜和扫描电子显微镜对雌性和雄性标本进行形态学和形态测量检查。通过对该寄生虫的核糖体DNA和细胞色素氧化酶基因的部分区域进行测序来进行分子特征分析，并使用最大似然法从28S D2-D3和ITS2区域构建系统发育树。这些新序列的序列匹配和系统发育分析与麻痹古氏线虫在后圆线虫超科内的形态学分类一致，但与特定的后圆线虫科没有一致的关系。这里描述的新开发的麻痹古氏线虫特异性PCR不仅为生活在流行地区的家猫的猫古氏线虫病提供了一种有用的诊断工具，还可用于对中间软体动物宿主和终末宿主的大规模流行病学调查。通过结合形态学、分子和系统发育数据，我们可靠地鉴定了麻痹古氏线虫，并确认了其在后圆线虫超科内的分类地位。
