Tongluan Natthida, Shelton Layne T, Collins J Hunter, Ingraffia Patrick, McCormick Gregory, Pena Maria, Sharma Rahul, Lahiri Ramanuj, Adams Linda B, Truman Richard W, Macaluso Kevin R
Department of Pathobiological Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, United States.
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, College of Medicine, University of South Alabama, Mobile, AL, United States.
Front Microbiol. 2021 Oct 27;12:761420. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2021.761420. eCollection 2021.
Leprosy is a zoonosis in the southern United States involving humans and wild armadillos. The majority of patients presenting with zoonotic strains of note extensive outdoor activity but only rarely report any history of direct contact with wild armadillos. Whether is transmitted to new vertebrate hosts through the environment independently or with the aid of other organisms, e.g., arthropod vectors, is a fundamental question in leprosy transmission. The objectives of this study were to assess the potential for ticks to transmit and to test if viable can be maintained in tick-derived cells. To evaluate tick transmission, nymphal ticks were injected with isolated Infection and transmission were assessed by qPCR. Ticks infected as nymphs harbored through vertical transmission events (nymph to adult and adult to progeny); and, horizontal transmission of to a vertebrate host was observed. DNA was detected in multiple tick life cycle stages. Likewise, freshly isolated (Thai-53) was used to infect a tick-derived cell line, and enumeration and bacterial viability were assessed at individual time points for up to 49 days. Evaluations of the viability of long-term cultured (Thai-53 and Br4923) were also assessed in a mouse model. Tick-derived cells were able to maintain viable over the 49-day course of infection and remained infectious within tick cells for at least 300 days. The results of this study suggest that ticks themselves might serve as a vector for the transmission of and that tick cells are suitable for maintenance of viable for an extended period of time.
麻风病是美国南部一种涉及人类和野生犰狳的人畜共患病。大多数感染人畜共患病菌株的患者有大量户外活动，但很少报告有与野生犰狳直接接触的病史。麻风杆菌是通过环境独立传播给新的脊椎动物宿主，还是借助其他生物（如节肢动物媒介）传播，这是麻风病传播中的一个基本问题。本研究的目的是评估蜱传播麻风杆菌的可能性，并测试在蜱源细胞中是否能维持麻风杆菌的存活。为了评估蜱的传播情况，将分离出的麻风杆菌注射到若蜱中。通过定量聚合酶链反应（qPCR）评估感染和传播情况。若蜱感染后，通过垂直传播事件（若蜱到成虫，成虫到后代）携带麻风杆菌；并且观察到麻风杆菌向脊椎动物宿主的水平传播。在蜱的多个生命周期阶段都检测到了麻风杆菌DNA。同样，将新鲜分离的麻风杆菌（泰国-53株）用于感染蜱源细胞系，并在长达49天的各个时间点评估细菌数量和活力。还在小鼠模型中评估了长期培养的麻风杆菌（泰国-53株和Br4923株）的活力。蜱源细胞在49天的感染过程中能够维持麻风杆菌的存活，并且麻风杆菌在蜱细胞内至少300天仍具有传染性。本研究结果表明，蜱本身可能是麻风杆菌传播的媒介，并且蜱细胞适合长时间维持麻风杆菌的存活。
