title: Trypanosoma cruzi detection in blood by xenodiagnosis and polymerase chain reaction in the wild rodent Octodon degus.
abstract: We detected Trypanosoma cruzi in blood samples of the wild rodent Octodon degus by xenodiagnosis and a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using the domestic and wild vectors of Chagas disease, Triatoma infestans and Mepraia spinolai, respectively. We captured 35 rodents and extracted DNA from blood samples and intestinal contents of vectors fed on O. degus. Our results indicate that the percentage of rodents naturally infected with T. cruzi depends on the biologic sample used for PCR and on the vector species for xenodiagnosis. The PCR with blood samples did not detect T. cruzi DNA, but the PCR with intestinal contents showed that both vectors were positive for T. cruzi. The PCR performed with M. spinolai intestinal contents detected four times more T. cruzi-positive O. degus than the PCR with Triatoma infestans intestinal contents (22.9% and 5.7%, respectively). We report the improvement of T. cruzi detection in sylvatic animals by a combination of PCR and xenodiagnosis using sylvatic vectors, especially in disease-endemic areas with low parasitemias in mammals.
authors.affiliation: Program of Cellular and Molecular Biology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Chile, Santiago, Chile.
authors.forename: Ricardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Campos
authors.forename: Carezza
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Botto-Mahan
authors.forename: Sylvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ortiz
authors.forename: Mariana
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Acuña
authors.forename: Pedro E
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Cattan
authors.forename: Aldo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Solari
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D014355:Chagas Disease / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary*; D002677:Chile / Q000453:epidemiology; D016054:DNA, Protozoan / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D005243:Feces / Q000469:parasitology; D046329:Octodon / Q000097:blood / Q000469:parasitology*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000662:veterinary; D012376:Rodent Diseases / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology*; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D014224:Triatoma / Q000469:parasitology*; D014349:Trypanosoma cruzi / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D020525:Xenodiagnosis / Q000662:veterinary
chemical_list: D016054:DNA, Protozoan