Characterisation of fascioliasis lymnaeid intermediate hosts from Chile by DNA sequencing, with emphasis on Lymnaea viator and Galba truncatula.

In South America, Fasciola hepatica infection poses serious health problems in both humans and livestock. In Chile, the medical impact appears yearly stable and mainly concentrated in central regions, where the veterinary problem is highlighted by higher animal prevalences. Studies were undertaken by rDNA ITS-2 and ITS-1 and mtDNA cox1 sequencing to clarify the specific status of the lymnaeids, their geographical distribution and fascioliasis transmission capacity in Chile, by comparison with other American countries and continents. Results change the lymnaeid scenario known so far. The lymnaeid fauna of mainland Chile shows to be poor, including only two authochthonous species, Lymnaea viator and Pectinidens diaphana, and a third introduced species of Palaearctic origin Galba truncatula. Both Lymnaea lebruni and Lymnaea patagonica proved to be synonyms of P. diaphana. G. truncatula appears to have always been confused with L. viator and seems distributed from Región VI to Región IX, overlapping with human endemic areas. DNA sequencing results suggest that the absence of correlation between remote sensing data and disease prevalences could be due to transmission capacity differences between L. viator and G. truncatula. Results furnish a new baseline on which to undertake future appropriate studies on transmission, epidemiology and control.

Hematology and serum chemistry values in captive and wild pichis, Zaedyus pichiy (Mammalia, Dasypodidae).

As part of an ongoing study on the health status of pichis, Zaedyus pichiy (Mammalia, Dasypodidae), blood was collected under manual restraint from 72 free-ranging pichis captured in Mendoza Province, Argentina, between November 2001 and December 2006, and from 22 captive-kept pichis in January 2007. Reference values were established for hematology and serum chemistry. Pichis had lower leukocyte counts and higher mean corpuscular volumes than most other mammals. Blood values were similar for captive and wild pichis, and only a few significant differences were found among genders or age classes.

Caracterización molecular de Galbatruncatula, vector principal de laFascioliasis, en Argentina. Implicaciones en salud pública / No disponible

Objetivo: La Fascioliasis humana ha pasado recientemente a engrosar la lista de las grandes enfermedades parasitarias de la humanidad. Las zonas de endemia humana presentando mayores prevalencias e intensidades se encuentran en Países Andinos como Bolivia y Perú, donde la enfermedad está transmitida por el molusco gasterópodo de la familia Lymnaeidae Galba truncatula. El hallazgo y determinación de esta misma especie de vector en Argentina, en 2001, fueron inicialmente realizados con base morfológica, siendo así que estudios posteriores han demostrado que la morfología no basta para la distinción entre especies del grupo Galba/Fossaria. El presente trabajo tiene por finalidad la confirmación de la existencia, en Argentina, del mejor vector de Fascioliasis conocido mediante secuenciación de un marcador específico del ADN. Material y métodos: Los moluscos fueron recolectados en El Salto, en la zona andina de Mendoza, Argentina, y fijados en etanol al 70%. El ADNgenómico fue extraído, amplificado y purificado siguiendo métodos estandarizados. La secuenciación del ITS-2 del ADN ribosomal nuclear fue obtenida mediante secuenciador automático utilizando cebadores específicos. El programa BLAST fue usado para comparación rápida con todas las secuencias de Lymnaeidos disponibles en el GenBank. El análisis comparado final se hizo mediante alineamiento utilizando Clustal W versión 1.8.Resultados: La secuencia completa del ITS-2 del ADNr resultó ser de una longitud de 401 pares de bases y un contenido en GC del 58,6%. La secuencia obtenida demostró ser idéntica en longitud, contenido y composición de nucleótidos que el haplotipo H3 de Galba truncatula, anteriormente descrito en Bolivia. Conclusiones: El hallazgo en Mendoza del (..) (AU)

Objective: Human fascioliasis has recently entered in the list of the most important parasitic diseases of man. The human endemic areas presenting the highest prevalences and intensities are found in Andean countries as Bolivia and Peru, where the disease is transmitted by the molluscangastropod of the Lymnaeidae family Galba truncatula. The finding and determination of this vector species in Argentina in 2001 were initially based on morphology. More recent studies have demonstrated that morphology does not enable to distinguish between species of the Galba/Fossaria group. The aim of this paper is to confirm the presence, in Argentina, of the best fascioliasis vector known by means of specific DNA marker sequencing. Material and methods: Molluscs were collected in El Salto, on the Andean zone of Mendoza, Argentina, and fixed with ethanol 70%. Total DNA was extracted, amplified and purified following standard methods. The sequence of the nuclear ribosomal DNA ITS-2 was obtained by means of anauthomatic sequencer using specific primers. The BLAST programme was used for the fast comparison with all sequences of lymnaeids availableat GenBank. The final comparison was made by alignment using Clustal W version 1.8.Results: The complete sequence of the rDNA ITS-2 showed a lenghth of 401 base pairs and a GC content of 58,6%. The sequence obtained was identical in length, contents and composition of nucleotides than the H3 haplotype of Galba truncatula, previously described in Bolivia. Conclusions: The finding in Mendoza of the same haplotype of the molluscan vector responsible of the human and animal fascioliasis on the (..) (AU)