Trypanosoma cruzi is the causative agent of Chagas disease, a zoonosis involving domestic and sylvatic mammalian reservoirs. Since scarce information has been published about the susceptibility of T. cruzi lineages to other triatomine species besides Triatoma infestans, we evaluate the susceptibility of T. infestans and Mepraia spinolai to different T. cruzi lineages, originated from naturally ...

Host defense against the intracellular protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi depends on Toll-like receptor (TLR)-dependent innate immune responses. Recent studies also suggest the presence of TLR-independent responses to several microorganisms, such as viruses, bacteria, and fungi. However, the TLR-independent responses to protozoa remain unclear. Here, we demonstrate a novel TLR-independent inn...

The benznidazole (BZ) and itraconazole (ITC) susceptibilities of a standard set of Trypanosoma cruzi natural stocks were evaluated during the acute phase and the chronic phase of experimental chagasic infection in BALB/c mice. Twenty laboratory-cloned stocks representative of the total phylogenetic diversity of T. cruzi, including genotypes 20 and 19 (T. cruzi I) and genotypes 39 and 32 (T. cru...

Sarcocystis neurona is the most important cause of a neurologic disease of horses, equine protozoal myeloencephalitis (EPM). Cats and other carnivores can act as its intermediate hosts and horses are aberrant hosts. Little is known of the sero-epidemiology of S. neurona infections in cats. In the present study, antibodies to S. neurona were evaluated by the S. neurona agglutination test (SAT). ...

Sarcocystis neurona is an important cause of equine protozoal myeloencephalitis (EPM) in horses in the Americas. An EPM-like neurological disease also has been reported from other mammals but it is difficult to induce this disease in the laboratory. A 4-month-old male domestic cat developed neurological signs 3 days following castration. The cat was euthanized 12 days later because of paralysis...

Sheep is the intermediate host of the protozoan parasite Sarcocystis tenella, while the dog is its definitive host. This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of natural infection with S. tenella in slaughtered Korean native goat, Capra hircus coreanae, in the Republic of Korea. H-E stained heart tissues were investigated for the presence of sarcocysts. Of the 103 goats, three (2.91%)...

Diclazuril is a benzeneacetonitril anticoccidial that has excellent activity against the extraintestinal stages of Toxoplasma gondii and Neospora caninum. It also is highly active against intestinal coccidia of poultry. The present study examined the efficacy of diclazuril in inhibiting merozoite production of Sarcocystis neurona and Sarcocystis falcatula in bovine turbinate cell cultures. Dicl...