Rojas-Barón Lisbeth, Taubert Anja, Hermosilla Carlos, Gómez Marcelo, Moroni Manuel, Muñoz Pamela
Biomedical Research Center Seltersberg (BFS), Institute of Parasitology, Justus Liebig University Giessen, 35392 Giessen, Germany.
Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias, Instituto de Farmacología y Morfofisiología, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia 5090000, Chile.
Pathogens. 2022 Jul 13;11(7):792. doi: 10.3390/pathogens11070792.
is a neglected and re-emerging metastrongyloid angio-neurotropic nematode causing severe chronic meningomyelitis in domestic cats () as well as in free-ranging small wild felids such as kodkods (), margays () and the northern tiger cat () in South America. Within these definitive hosts (DH), adult males and females of parasitize the leptomeningeal veins of the subarachnoid space and/or the meningeal veins of spinal cord parenchyma, inducing vascular alterations. Feline gurltiosis has been associated with progressive thrombophlebitis of the meningeal veins, resulting in ambulatory paraparesis, paraplegia, ataxia, hindlimb proprioceptive deficit, uni- or bilateral hyperactive patellar reflexes, faecal and urinary incontinence, and tail paralysis. The complete life cycle of has not been elucidated yet, but most probably involves gastropods as obligate intermediate hosts (IH). In terms of epidemiology, infections in domestic and wild felids are scattered around various South American countries, with hyperendemic areas in southern parts of Chile. Etiological diagnosis of still represents a challenge for clinicians due to a lack of evidence of the excretion of either eggs or larvae in faeces or in other body fluids. Diagnosis is based on clinical neurological signs, imaging findings through computed tomography (CT), myelography, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and post mortem examination. Nonetheless, novel diagnostic tools have been developed, including semi-nested PCR for detecting circulating DNA in the cerebrospinal fluid, serum and blood samples as well as in serological diagnostic kits detecting parasite-derived antigens, but these need validation for routine usage. The hypothetical life cycle of is addressed in this article, including the exogenous stages (i.e., eggs, and first- (L1), second- (L2) and third-stage (L3) larvae) and obligate gastropod IH and/or paratenic hosts (PH), and we propose possible anatomical migration routes of infective L3 that reach the leptomeningeal veins in vivo. Finally, the pro-inflammatory endothelium- and leukocyte-derived innate immune reactions of the host against , which most likely result in thrombophlebitis and meningomyelitis, are briefly touched on.
是一种被忽视且再度出现的类圆线虫，具有血管嗜神经性，可在家猫以及南美洲的南美林猫、长尾虎猫和南美草原猫等野生小型猫科动物中引发严重的慢性脑脊膜炎。在这些终末宿主（DH）中，该寄生虫的成年雌雄虫寄生于蛛网膜下腔的软脑膜静脉和/或脊髓实质的脑膜静脉，引发血管病变。猫类圆线虫病与脑膜静脉的进行性血栓性静脉炎相关，导致行动性轻截瘫、截瘫、共济失调、后肢本体感觉障碍、单侧或双侧髌反射亢进、粪便和尿液失禁以及尾部麻痹。该寄生虫的完整生命周期尚未阐明，但很可能涉及腹足纲动物作为专性中间宿主（IH）。在流行病学方面，家猫和野生猫科动物中的感染分布在南美洲各国，智利南部为高度流行区。由于缺乏粪便或其他体液中虫卵或幼虫排泄的证据，该寄生虫的病因诊断对临床医生而言仍是一项挑战。诊断基于临床神经学体征、计算机断层扫描（CT）、脊髓造影、磁共振成像（MRI）的影像学检查结果以及尸检。尽管如此，已开发出新型诊断工具，包括用于检测脑脊液、血清和血液样本中循环的该寄生虫DNA的半巢式PCR以及检测寄生虫衍生抗原的血清学诊断试剂盒，但这些工具需要进行常规使用的验证。本文探讨了该寄生虫的假设生命周期，包括其外在阶段（即虫卵、第一期（L1）、第二期（L2）和第三期（L3）幼虫）以及专性腹足纲中间宿主和/或转续宿主（PH），并提出了感染性L3在体内到达软脑膜静脉的可能解剖迁移途径。最后，简要阐述了宿主针对该寄生虫的促炎性内皮细胞和白细胞源性固有免疫反应，这种反应很可能导致血栓性静脉炎和脑脊膜炎。
