In this study, we observed the presence of antileptospiral agglutinins in freshwater turtles of two urban lakes of Pelotas, Southern Brazil. Forty animals (29 Trachemys dorbigny and 11 Phrynops hilarii) were captured and studied. Attempts to isolate leptospires from blood and urine samples were unsuccessful. Serum samples (titer > 100) reactive to pathogenic strains were observed in 11 animals....

Johnson, Russell C. (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis), and Palmer Rogers. Differentiation of pathogenic and saprophytic leptospires with 8-azaguanine. J. Bacteriol. 88:1618-1623. 1964.-The use of the purine analogue, 8-azaguanine, as a differential agent for the separation of pathogenic and saprophytic leptospires was investigated. Growth of strains of the saprophyte Leptospira biflexa was...

The aim of this study was to apply a molecular protocol to detect leptospiral DNA in environmental water samples. The study was carried out in a peri-urban settlement in Petrópolis, state of Rio de Janeiro. A multiplex PCR method employing the primers LipL32 and 16SrRNA was used. Three out of 100 analysed samples were positive in the multiplex PCR, two were considered to have saprophytic leptos...

Background: Leptospirosis is an emerging infectious disease and is considered to be the most widespread zoonotic disease in the world. LigB is an immunogenic outer membrane protein. The leptospiral ligB gene expressed only in pathogenic Leptospira spp. The aim of this study was molecular diagnosis of pathogen Leptospires by PCR based on ligB gene. Materials and Methods: Five pathogenic Leptospi...

The early phase of leptospiral infection is characterized by the presence of live organisms in the blood. Pathogenic Leptospira interrogans is resistant to the alternative pathway of complement mediated-killing, while nonpathogenic members of the genus are not. Consistent with that observation, only pathogenic leptospires bound factor H, a host fluid-phase regulator of the alternative complemen...

A total of 429 specimens belonging to 9 species of small mammals, trapped in various areas of the Czech Republic during the year 2001, were examined for antibodies against leptospires. Antibodies were found in all localities under study in 50 specimens, i.e., 11.6%, belonging to 5 species. Antibodies were most often , i.e., in 42% of positives, found in Microtus arvalis. In Apodemus spp. and Cl...

leptospirosis caused by infection with pathogenic leptospires, which is the most prevalent zoonotic disease in the world. the outer membrane proteins (omps) of pathogenic leptospires such as lipl41 play a crucial role in pathogenesis of this disease. therefore a major challenge to develop an effective vaccine against leptospirosis is application of basic research on the omps of leptospires to i...

BACKGROUND Pathogenic species of Leptospira cause leptospirosis, a global zoonotic disease. Our previous work showed that leptospires survive and replicate in human macrophages but are killed in murine macrophages. However, the mechanism responsible for the different intracellular fates of leptospires within the macrophages of different hosts remains unclear. RESULTS The present study demonst...