[Presence of neuraminidase in Rhodnius prolixus infected with Trypanosoma rangeli]

Using three different methods, the activity of neuraminidase was studied in the promesenteron, postmesenteron, rectal ampulla, haemolymph and salivary glands in 600 Rhodnius prolixus experimentally infected with Trypanosoma rangeli stock San Agustín. The haemagglutination method with peanut lectin, and the fluorescence test with peanut lectin conjugated with fluorescein isothiocyanate, and the fluorescence emitted by 4-methylumbelliferone showed in all cases the presence of neuraminidase in the supernatant culture of T. rangeli in Tobie's medium between 8 to 15 days growth. None of the three methods was able to detect the presence of neuraminidase in R. prolixus infected with T. Rangeli, thus suggesting that this enzyme is not produced in vivo, and consecutively is not implicated in the pathogenicity that this trypanosome has to its vector.