title: Differentiation of Trypanosoma cruzi and Trypanosoma rangeli of Colombia using minicircle hybridization tests.
abstract: Although Trypanosoma rangeli is harmless for humans, it is a serious problem since it may be confused with diagnosis of Trypanosoma cruzi, the etiologic agent of Chagas disease. Both parasites overlap geographically, share antigenic protein, and are able to infect the same Triatominae vector and vertebrate host, including human. Our objective was to differentiate T. cruzi and T. rangeli isolates from Colombia based on polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of the minicircles followed by appropriate hybridization tests with selected DNA probes and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis. We worked with highly characterized T. cruzi and T. rangeli isolates from different biologic origins and geographic areas of Colombia, and they were analyzed by RFLP and PCR amplification of variable region of minicircles and Southern blot analysis. Our results and experimental conditions demonstrate the usefulness of PCR amplification of the minicircles followed by Southern blot analysis to differentiate T. cruzi from T. rangeli, which can be highly important to improve diagnosis of Chagas disease.
authors.affiliation: Grupo Biología y Control de Enfermedades Infecciosas, Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia.
authors.forename: Adriana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Botero
authors.forename: Sylvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ortiz
authors.forename: Sergio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Muñoz
authors.forename: Omar
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Triana
authors.forename: Aldo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Solari
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015139:Blotting, Southern / Q000379:methods; D014355:Chagas Disease / Q000175:diagnosis*; D003105:Colombia; D018105:DNA, Kinetoplast / Q000235:genetics*; D016054:DNA, Protozoan / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D010274:Parasitology / Q000379:methods*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014225:Triatominae / Q000469:parasitology; D014349:Trypanosoma cruzi / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D057509:Trypanosoma rangeli / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D018105:DNA, Kinetoplast; D016054:DNA, Protozoan