Department of Pathobiology, School of Veterinary Medicine, St. George's University, Grenada, West Indies.
Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, School of Medicine, St. George's University, Grenada, West Indies.
PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2020 Jan 21;14(1):e0007940. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0007940. eCollection 2020 Jan.
Bats can harbor zoonotic pathogens, but their status as reservoir hosts for Leptospira bacteria is unclear. During 2015-2017, kidneys from 47 of 173 bats captured in Grenada, West Indies, tested PCR-positive for Leptospira. Sequence analysis of the Leptospira rpoB gene from 31 of the positive samples showed 87-91% similarity to known Leptospira species. Pairwise and phylogenetic analysis of sequences indicate that bats from Grenada harbor as many as eight undescribed Leptospira genotypes that are most similar to known pathogenic Leptospira, including known zoonotic serovars. Warthin-Starry staining revealed leptospiral organisms colonizing the renal tubules in 70% of the PCR-positive bats examined. Mild inflammatory lesions in liver and kidney observed in some bats were not significantly correlated with renal Leptospira PCR-positivity. Our findings suggest that Grenada bats are asymptomatically infected with novel and diverse Leptospira genotypes phylogenetically related to known pathogenic strains, supporting the hypothesis that bats may be reservoirs for zoonotic Leptospira.
蝙蝠可能携带人畜共患病原体，但它们作为钩端螺旋体细菌的储存宿主的状态尚不清楚。在 2015-2017 年期间，从西印度群岛格林纳达捕获的 173 只蝙蝠中有 47 只的肾脏通过 PCR 检测呈钩端螺旋体阳性。对 31 份阳性样本的 Leptospira rpoB 基因进行序列分析显示，与已知的 Leptospira 物种具有 87-91%的相似性。序列的成对和系统发育分析表明，来自格林纳达的蝙蝠携带多达八种尚未描述的 Leptospira 基因型，这些基因型与已知的致病性 Leptospira 最为相似，包括已知的人畜共患病血清型。Warthin-Starry 染色显示，在 70%的经 PCR 检测呈阳性的蝙蝠中，钩端螺旋体生物定植于肾小管。在一些蝙蝠中观察到的肝脏和肾脏的轻度炎症病变与肾脏的 Leptospira PCR 阳性没有显著相关性。我们的研究结果表明，格林纳达的蝙蝠无症状感染了与已知致病性菌株具有系统发育关系的新型和多样化的 Leptospira 基因型，支持蝙蝠可能是人畜共患 Leptospira 的储存宿主的假说。
