Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0024141 (systemic lupus erythematosus)
 44,322 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

In this work we show that in the sera from dogs naturally infected with the protozoan parasite Leishmania infantum there are antibodies that react specifically against the parasite acidic ribosomal proteins LiP2a and LiP2b, and that each one of the Leishmania P proteins elicits a specific humoral immune response. Using synthetic peptides, the antigenic epitope of these proteins has been mapped in a single region located adjacent to the C-terminal domain highly conserved among the eukaryotic P proteins. The anti-P antibodies elicited during the Leishmania infection do not recognize the conserved C-terminal domain of the parasite P proteins, in contrast with the findings reported in Chagas' disease or systemic lupus erythematosus. The antigenic epitopes of the LiP2a and LiP2b are almost identical in amino acid sequence. No reactivity against Trypanosoma cruzi and human P proteins was found in sera from L. infantum-infected dogs.
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PMID:During active viscerocutaneous leishmaniasis the anti-P2 humoral response is specifically triggered by the parasite P proteins. 774 63

An epidemiological study to examine the sero-prevalence of zoonotic visceral leishmaniosis (ZVL) among domestic and wild canines in endemic foci of Iran was carried out during 1999-2003 to assess the distribution of the disease and the possible association between infection in dogs, wild canines and people. Anti-leishmanial antibodies were detected by the direct agglutination test (DAT). Parasitological study was performed for all captured wild canines and were detected in some of the seropositive dogs with specific clinical signs (n=107). Serum samples (n=1568) were collected from domestic dogs in villages that are known endemic foci of human visceral leishmaniosis (HVL). Wild canine sera were collected from jackals (Canis aureus, n=10), foxes (Vulpes vulpes, n=10) and wolves (Canis lupus, n=10). Of the 1568 serum sampled collected from domestic dogs, 222 (14.2%) were positive by DAT (1:320 and above). No statistically significant difference was found between male (15.2%) and female (11.8%) sero-prevalence (P=0.083). Dogs of 8 years and above showed the highest sero-prevalence (40.6%). Only 23.9% of the seropositive domestic dogs had clinical signs. Parasitology and serology tests that were performed in 30 wild canines showed 10% these animals were infected by Leishmania infantum. Ten out of 11 Leishmania spp. isolated from the dogs and wild canines were identified as L. infantum and one other as L. tropica by molecular and biochemical techniques. For the first time in Iran, L. infantum and L. tropica were isolated from viscera of both a wolf and a domestic dog.
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PMID:Epidemiological aspects of canine visceral leishmaniosis in the Islamic Republic of Iran. 1584 79

The southern habitats of Croatia's gray wolf (Canis lupus) population are found in central and southern parts of Dalmatia. This region is recognized as an endemic region for canine visceral leishmaniosis, caused by Leishmania infantum. In November 2003, a 4-yr-old male gray wolf was found dead in the northwestern border of this endemic region. Pathologic and parasitologic analysis, confirmed by polymerase chain reaction, indicated that lesions associated with infection by Leishmania infantum are, in this case, typical for visceral leshmaniosis commonly described in dogs. Review of the literature suggests that this is the first reported case of gray wolf death due to lesions caused by L. infantum.
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PMID:A case of visceral leishmaniosis in a gray wolf (Canis lupus) from Croatia. 1843 78

Visceral Leishmaniasis (VL) is an emerging zoonotic parasitic disease caused by Leishmania infantum in Mediterranean countries, with sand flies (Phlebotomus spp.) as vectors and dogs as the main domestic reservoir. The role of wild carnivores in the epidemiology of leishmaniasis is still controversial. In order to determine the prevalence of natural infection with L. infantum in wild carnivores from Spain, we analyzed 217 samples by PCR and western blotting and used restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) to compare the patterns present in wild carnivores with those of domestic dogs from the same areas. DNA of the parasite was detected in spleen or blood samples from 35 (16.12%) analyzed wild carnivores, including 8 of 39 (20.5%) wolves (Canis lupus), 23 of 162 (14.1%) foxes (Vulpes vulpes), 2 of 7 (28.6%) Egyptian mongooses (Herpestes ichneumon), 1 of 4 genets (Geneta geneta), and 1 of 4 Iberian lynxes (Lynx pardinus). No significant sex or age differences in prevalence were observed in wolves and foxes (P>0.05), but there was a significant difference among regions in foxes (P<0.05). A total of 12 PCR-RFLP patterns were found in foxes, 6 in wolves, 4 in dogs, 2 in Egyptian mongooses and 1 in lynx and genet. RFLP patterns differed between dogs and foxes in the two areas where they could be compared. This is the first study of canine leishmaniasis in wild canids and other carnivores from different regions of Spain by PCR. The prevalence of infection indicates the existence of natural infection in apparently healthy wild carnivore populations, and our results are suggestive of a sylvatic cycle independent of dogs.
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PMID:Characterization of widespread canine leishmaniasis among wild carnivores from Spain. 1857 11

The aim of the present study was to determine the prevalence of Leishmania infantum infection in a wild reservoir host (Canis lupus) throughout an endemic area for the disease (Southern Europe). For that reason, the serum and peripheral blood samples of 33 captive wolves from the European Breeding of Endangered Species Programme (EEP) were analyzed using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR). L. infantum was detected in three samples from Central Portugal and Central and Northern Spain. Even though L. infantum infection in positive samples was low, surveillance of zoonotic leishmaniosis in this population is recommended as the parasite load could be higher in other tissues due to parasite tropism and most of the EEP institutions studied are located in endemic areas for canine leishmaniosis in Europe.
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PMID:Detection of Leishmania infantum in captive wolves from Southwestern Europe. 1882 11

Leishmaniasis is a parasitic disease caused by an intracellular protozoan that belongs to the genus Leishmania and is transmitted by a phlebotomine sandfly. In Southwest Europe, including Portugal, cutaneous leishmaniasis is considered a rare disease of unknown or underestimated prevalence. Leishmania infantum is the only species identified as responsible for the autochthonous cases.We report the case of a 66-year-old man with an erythematous, painless plaque on the mid face region, accompanied by nasal obstruction with 9 months of evolution. The initial diagnoses were: lymphoma, subcutaneous mycosis, Wegener's granulomatosis, and lupus vulgaris. The diagnosis of leishmaniasis was based on histopathology findings and identification of L. infantum by DNA based methods. Blood cultures, abdominal ultrasound and myelogram ruled out systemic involvement. The patient was treated with intravenous meglumine antimoniate (20 mg per kg/day) for four weeks, without major side effects.We emphasize the importance of this case because human cutaneous leishmaniasis has rarely been diagnosed in Portugal and some cases are atypical, such as the situation herein described.
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PMID:An atypical case of cutaneous leishmaniasis caused by Leishmania infantum in Portugal. 2431 82

Leishmaniosis is, to date, considered the second most important emerging vector-borne protozoal disease in the world after malaria. The form of zoonotic visceral leishmaniosis found in the Mediterranean basin is caused by Leishmania infantum, and its life cycle includes the domestic dog and a phlebotomine sandfly vector. This complex epidemiological cycle and its high prevalence of subclinical infection, hinder the surveillance and control of L. infantum, and allows it to go unnoticed at the geographical endemicity limits of the parasite or in recently colonized areas. We, therefore, tested 102 wolves (Canis lupus) and 47 other wild carnivores in order to detect Leishmania DNA by means of PCR. Samples were collected from 2008 to 2014 in Asturias (northern Spain), a region considered non-endemic for the parasite. The results obtained provided valuable information regarding the prevalence of Leishmania in wild carnivores in Asturias and its geographic distribution in the region: an average prevalence of 33% for wolves and an overall prevalence of 40% for all the wild carnivores studied were reported, with a widespread presence of the parasite in the region and an apparent increase in its prevalence in wolves during the last decade. This suggests the usefulness of the wolf as a sentinel species for the detection and study of Leishmania in the field and confirms the value of wildlife sanitary surveillance programs for the detection and monitoring of hitherto disregarded diseases that affect domestic animals and humans.
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PMID:Leishmania in wolves in northern Spain: A spreading zoonosis evidenced by wildlife sanitary surveillance. 2977 32

Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is an important parasitic disease which is endemic in different parts of Iran; and domestic and wild canines are principal reservoir hosts of the disease. The objective of this study was to review the spatial distribution of canine VL (CVL) caused by Leishmania infantum in domestic and wild canines in different geographical areas of Iran. An extensive literature search was conducted in different international and national databases, including Cochrane, MEDLINE/PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science and Iran Medex to find articles with the words "visceral leishmaniasis in Iran" in their titles and "canine visceral leishmaniasis in Iran" or "feline visceral leishmaniasis in Iran" or "accidental reservoir hosts of visceral leishmaniasis in Iran" in their subtitles, irrespective of the type and duration of study. Screening of the irrelevant articles from total 36,342, yielded 61 eligible articles. More than 93% of the studies were carried out on domestic dogs (Canis familiaris, n = 57) and the remaining were on other carnivores such as wild canines including foxes (Vulpes vulpes, n = 4), jackals (C. aureus, n = 6) and wolves (C. lupus, n = 6); while studies on domestic cats (Felis catus, n = 3) as well as desert rodents (n = 2) were rare. The average rate of L. infantum infections reported among domestic dogs using direct agglutination test (DAT) in Iran was 12.5%. The highest prevalence rate (14%) was reported from the northwest regions of the country where VL is endemic. The review indicates that CVL is endemic in various parts of Iran and domestic dogs are the main and potential reservoir hosts of the disease. Other carnivores, such as domestic cats and some species of desert rodents (Cricetulus migratorius, Mesocricetus auratus and Meriones persicus) seem to be playing a role in the maintenance of transmission cycle of L. infantum in the endemic areas of the disease.
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PMID:Geographic distribution and spatial analysis of Leishmania infantum infection in domestic and wild animal reservoir hosts of zoonotic visceral leishmaniasis in Iran: A systematic review. 3061 42

Trypanosoma cruzi and Leishmania spp. are vector-borne parasitic protozoa, the causative agents of Chagas and Leishmaniasis diseases, respectively. Trypanosoma cruzi and Leishmania spp. have been reported in a wide variety of mammals, including canids, which play an important role in the transmission of these parasites between urban and natural environments. Currently, no studies have been conducted on trypanosomatids in wild canids in Mexico. Using a partially purified fraction of excreted Iron Superoxide dismutase (FeSODe) of T. cruzi, L. mexicana, and L. infantum as antigen for the ELISA and Western blot tests, we detected the presence of antibodies against these parasites in gray foxes (Urocyon cinereoargenteus Schreber, 1775), domestic and feral dogs (Canis lupus familiaris L.) from Queretaro. Our study provides new information regarding the potential of these carnivores as reservoirs of T. cruzi, Leishmania mexicana, and L. infantum for Latin America.
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PMID:Presence of trypanosomatid antibodies in gray foxes (Urocyon cinereoargenteus) and domestic and feral dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) in Queretaro, Mexico. 3101 33

In Europe, free-ranging wildlife has been linked to the emergence of several vector-borne diseases such as rodents for Borrelia burgdorferi s.l. In particular, wild carnivorans are one of the most important sources of emerging zoonotic pathogens worldwide, although little information is available regarding the epidemiology of vector-borne parasites in these animals. Thus, the aim of this paper was to investigate the prevalence of Babesia spp., Anaplasma spp., Ehrlichia spp., Hepatozoon spp. and Leishmania infantum in alpine wild canids and mustelids from Italy. For this study, spleen samples of 157 foxes (Vulpes vulpes), 45 badgers (Meles meles), and 33 wolves (Canis lupus) collected between 2009 and 2017 in Northwest Italy were examined by using conventional PCR. Logistic regression was used to identify possible risk factors for pathogen infections. DNA of any of the tested pathogens was found in more than 90% of the analyzed animals. In particular, Babesia spp. showed significantly higher prevalence in foxes (89.7%) and badgers (89.6%) than in wolves, while the latter were considerably more infected with Hepatozoon canis (75.8%) than foxes (5.1%). None of the badger tested positive for Hepatozoon spp., although they showed high prevalence of Leishmania infantum (53.3%). Sequencing results revealed the presence, among others, of Babesia vulpes, Babesia sp. isolate badger type A and B, and Anaplasma phagocytophilum. Moreover, previously unreported pathogen/host associations were observed, such as Babesia capreoli in wolves and badgers. The prevalence of vector-borne pathogens observed in the present study is one of the highest reported so far, suggesting the importance of free-ranging carnivorans in the epidemiology and maintenance of the sylvatic cycle of the pathogens. Moreover, several of these pathogens are of particular importance regarding human (A. phagocytophilum, L. infantum) and pet health (L. infantum, B. vulpes).
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PMID:Molecular Survey on Vector-Borne Pathogens in Alpine Wild Carnivorans. 3203 55


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