Biological, molecular and morphometric study of the Tsh 8 and Tv strains of Trypanosoma cruzi (Chagas, 1909) (Kinetoplastida, Trypanosomatidae).

• Grant number: 22/13607-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: January 01, 2023
• End date: December 31, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Parasitology - Protozoology of Parasites
• Principal Investigator: João Aristeu da Rosa
• Grantee: Giovana Silva Ferraz
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas (FCFAR). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Araraquara. Araraquara , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Once described, Chagas disease was considered a "medical-scientific" issue and also a social one. Known as "Tropical disease", it had been characterized as an "endemic of the sertões" and as a "Brazil disease". This is due to its characteristic profile, which proved to be closely associated with the national identity of that time, 1909. Research on this topic was decisive for the advancement of scientific knowledge.It is a zoonosis and, currently, according to the World Health Organization, it is estimated that about 6 to 8 million people are infected.Trypanosoma cruzi, the etiologic agent of Chagas disease, is a flagellated protozoan, whose evolutionary cycle comprises mammalian hosts and hematophagous insects of the order Hemiptera, subfamily Triatominae, which include three main genera: Panstrongylus, Rhodnius and Triatoma. Currently, 157 species are admitted, of which three are fossils.This project aims at the biological, molecular, and morphometric study of the Tsh 8 and Tv strains of Trypanosoma cruzi. The Tsh 8 strain was isolated from feces of Triatoma sherlocki, captured in the district of Santo Inácio, municipality of Gentio do Ouro, in the State of Bahia (S 12º 32.323' and W 41º 31.139' altitude 1005). The Tv strain was isolated from an adult specimen of Triatoma vitticeps collected in the municipality of Grão Mogol, MG.The biological study will be carried out by analyzing the blood parasitemia, that is, determining the prepatent period, parasitemic peak, mortality rate and the period of disappearance of circulating forms in peripheral blood of Swiss mice infected by the aforementioned strains. The two strains will have the length, width, nucleus area, kinetoplast area and nuclear index of the epimastigote forms measured, from forms obtained in LIT culture medium. The trypomastigote forms to be obtained from the blood of mice will also have five parameters measured, as will the epimastigote forms. The molecular study will be conducted by the analysis of variable regions of the 18S and 28S± genes of the ribosomal RNA by the PCR technique.