Department of Pathobiological Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.
One Health Colombia, Global Health Institute, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.
J Infect Dis. 2023 Nov 11;228(10):1441-1451. doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiad331.
Mansonellosis is an undermapped insect-transmitted disease caused by filarial nematodes that are estimated to infect hundreds of millions of people. Despite their prevalence, there are many outstanding questions regarding the general biology and health impacts of the responsible parasites. Historical reports suggest that the Colombian Amazon is endemic for mansonellosis and may serve as an ideal location to pursue these questions.
We deployed molecular and classical approaches to survey Mansonella prevalence among adults belonging to indigenous communities along the Amazon River and its tributaries near Leticia, Colombia.
Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assays on whole-blood samples detected a much higher prevalence of Mansonella ozzardi infection (approximately 40%) compared to blood smear microscopy or LAMP performed using plasma, likely reflecting greater sensitivity and the ability to detect low microfilaremias and occult infections. Mansonella infection rates increased with age and were higher among men. Genomic analysis confirmed the presence of M. ozzardi that clusters closely with strains sequenced in neighboring countries. We successfully cryopreserved M. ozzardi microfilariae, advancing the prospects of rearing infective larvae in controlled settings.
These data suggest an underestimation of true mansonellosis prevalence, and we expect that these methods will help facilitate the study of mansonellosis in endemic and laboratory settings.
曼森线虫病是一种由丝虫引起的、被低估的昆虫传播疾病，估计有数亿人感染。尽管它们很普遍，但关于这些寄生虫的一般生物学和健康影响仍有许多悬而未决的问题。历史报告表明，哥伦比亚亚马逊地区是曼森线虫病的地方性流行地区，可能是研究这些问题的理想地点。
我们采用分子和经典方法，对哥伦比亚莱蒂西亚附近亚马逊河及其支流沿岸的土著社区成年人中的曼森线虫病流行情况进行了调查。
对全血样本进行环介导等温扩增（LAMP）检测，发现曼森线虫感染的流行率（约 40%）明显高于血涂片显微镜检查或使用血浆进行的 LAMP，这可能反映了更高的敏感性和检测低微丝蚴血症和隐匿感染的能力。曼森线虫感染率随年龄增长而增加，男性感染率更高。基因组分析证实存在与邻国测序菌株密切聚类的曼森线虫。我们成功地冷冻保存了曼森线虫微丝蚴，为在受控环境中饲养感染性幼虫的前景提供了帮助。
这些数据表明，真实的曼森线虫病流行率被低估了，我们预计这些方法将有助于在地方性和实验室环境中研究曼森线虫病。
