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Sexual Transmission of American Trypanosomes from Males and Females to Naive Mates
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[The oral route: an access port for Trypanosoma cruzi]

M L Calvo Méndez1, B Nogueda Torres, R Alejandre Aguilar

  • 1Laboratorio de Protozoología, Departamento de Parasitología de la Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas del I.P.N., México, D.F.

Revista Latinoamericana De Microbiologia
|January 1, 1992
PubMed

Insights

The oral route is a likely transmission method for Trypanosoma cruzi (T. cruzi). Metacyclic trypomastigotes from triatomines resulted in higher infection rates in mice and rats compared to other forms.

Area of Science:

  • Parasitology
  • Infectious Diseases
  • Veterinary Medicine

Context:

  • Trypanosoma cruzi (T. cruzi) is the causative agent of Chagas disease.
  • Understanding T. cruzi transmission routes is crucial for disease control and prevention.
  • The oral route of infection is considered a probable, yet less studied, transmission pathway compared to vector-borne transmission.

Purpose:

  • To evaluate the efficacy of the oral route for T. cruzi inoculation in rodent models.
  • To compare infection rates resulting from different T. cruzi sources via oral administration.
  • To determine the susceptibility of rats and mice to oral T. cruzi infection.

Summary:

  • Rats and mice were orally inoculated with T. cruzi from infected blood, triatomine feces, live triatomines, and cell cultures.
  • Mice demonstrated higher susceptibility to T. cruzi infection than rats across all inoculation methods.
  • Infection percentages were highest when using metacyclic trypomastigotes from triatomine feces or live triatomines, indicating their higher infectivity via the oral route.

Impact:

  • This study confirms the oral route as a viable transmission pathway for T. cruzi.
  • Oral inoculation with T. cruzi, particularly using metacyclic forms, offers a potentially more effective experimental method than intraperitoneal injection.
  • Findings contribute to a better understanding of Chagas disease epidemiology and experimental models.

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