Tabares-Medina Juliana, García-Blandón Katherinne, García-Montoya Gisela M, Soto-Calderón Iván Darío
Laboratorio de Genética Animal. Grupo Agrociencias, Biodiversidad y Territorio, Instituto de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín, Antioquia, Colombia.
Centro Nacional de Secuenciación Genómica-CNSG, Sede de Investigación Universitaria-SIU, Departamento de Microbiología y Parasitología, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín, Antioquia, Colombia.
Int J Parasitol Parasites Wildl. 2024 Nov 14;25:101021. doi: 10.1016/j.ijppaw.2024.101021. eCollection 2024 Dec.
Trypanosomes are blood parasites capable of infecting nearly any vertebrate. Many Neotropical primates frequently host trypanosomes and are considered potential reservoirs for and other human-pathogenic trypanosomatids. However, diagnostic methods originally developed for detecting these trypanosomatids in humans and domestic species must be validated to reliably diagnose infections in non-human primates. Without such validation, taxonomic biases and incorrect assignments of wildlife reservoirs can occur. The white-footed tamarin (), a primate endemic to northwestern Colombia, is classified by the World Health Organization as a reservoir of . However, this classification is based on studies with small sample sizes, ambiguous diagnostic methods, and questionable geographic records. In this study, the 18S ribosomal RNA gene was amplified via PCR and sequenced to estimate trypanosome infection rates and identify species in natural populations of across a wide geographic range, as well as in () specimens. This molecular approach was also compared with traditional microscopy diagnosis using blood smears. The molecular diagnosis revealed that over 60% of the tested specimens were infected, whereas traditional microscopy resulted in 58% false negatives compared to the molecular method. A Bayesian phylogeny of the 18S gene identified as the sole trypanosomatid species present in , with no detections of or other trypanosomatids of concern to human or domestic animal health. This study highlights the risk of overestimating the presence of human-infecting trypanosomes, such as , in tamarins and other vertebrates, and underscores the importance of validating diagnostic methods to accurately assess the zoonotic potential of wild species. Accurate identification of wildlife reservoirs is essential for understanding parasite life cycles and implementing effective management and conservation strategies for primates and other potential reservoirs.
锥虫是能够感染几乎任何脊椎动物的血液寄生虫。许多新热带灵长类动物经常携带锥虫，被认为是锥虫及其他人类致病锥虫的潜在宿主。然而，最初为检测人类和家养动物中的这些锥虫而开发的诊断方法必须经过验证，才能可靠地诊断非人类灵长类动物的感染情况。没有这种验证，就可能出现分类偏差和野生动物宿主的错误认定。白足狨猴（）是哥伦比亚西北部特有的一种灵长类动物，世界卫生组织将其列为锥虫的宿主。然而，这一分类是基于样本量小、诊断方法不明确以及地理记录存疑的研究得出的。在本研究中，通过聚合酶链反应（PCR）扩增18S核糖体RNA基因并进行测序，以估计广泛地理范围内白足狨猴自然种群以及（）标本中的锥虫感染率并鉴定其种类。这种分子方法还与使用血涂片的传统显微镜诊断方法进行了比较。分子诊断显示，超过60%的测试标本受到感染，而与分子方法相比，传统显微镜检查产生了58%的假阴性结果。18S基因的贝叶斯系统发育分析确定为白足狨猴中存在的唯一锥虫种类，未检测到或其他对人类或家畜健康构成威胁的锥虫。这项研究凸显了高估狨猴和其他脊椎动物中人类感染性锥虫（如）存在的风险，并强调了验证诊断方法对于准确评估野生物种人畜共患病潜力的重要性。准确识别野生动物宿主对于了解寄生虫生命周期以及实施针对灵长类动物和其他潜在宿主的有效管理和保护策略至关重要。
