Molecular investigation of causing agents of leishmaniasis in small mammals from the Amazon Rainforest

• Grant number: 24/01779-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: June 01, 2024
• End date: May 31, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Veterinary Medicine - Preventive Veterinary Medicine
• Principal Investigator: Lígia Souza Lima Silveira da Mota
• Grantee: Laura Meiken Morelli
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia (FMVZ). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Botucatu. Botucatu , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Leishmaniasis are noncontagious infectious diseases considered zoonosis of great importance in public health and belong to the group of Neglected Infectious Diseases (NIDs). These diseases are caused by parasites from the Leishmania genre and can appear clinically in its cutaneous, visceral or mucocutaneous form. The epidemiology surrounding leishmaniasis is complex because of their multiple cycles of transmission, which can involve wild animals, synanthropic animals, domestic animals, humans, and vectors both in urban environments and forests. Since Leishmanias have large genetic heterogeneity and biological eclecticism in regards to the different orders of mammals they can infect, it is important to identify which species of Leishmania are present in different animals and how they contribute to the maintenance of the diseases. Thus, the present project will investigate the presence of agents that cause leishmaniasis in small mammals from Pará State's Amazon through molecular biology techniques. In this regard, samples of liver, spleen, and blood were collected from free-living non-flying mammals (orders Rodentia and Didelmorphia) geographically distributed in Pará, throughout four cities that are part of the Amazon biome. The capture was made using Sherman and Tomahawk cage traps, and the DNAs extracted from the samples are stored in freezers at -20ºC. The detection of Leishmania spp. in the DNA fragments will be done through Polymerase Chain Reactions (PCRs). The products will be amplified with the electrophoresis technique in agaroses gel at 1,5%. They will be subjected to nucleotide sequencing and phylogenetic analysis and molecular prevalence results will be analyzed as descriptive statistics relating factors such as sex, age and weight.