The cytotoxicity of 18 new 1,2,6-thiadiazin-3,5-dione 1,1-dioxides was evaluated. This group of products was previously assayed against epimastigotes of Trypanosoma cruzi and some of them showed a high antiprotozoal activity. Thereafter 13 compounds with a high anti-epimastigote activity and low cytotoxicity were selected to be assayed against amastigotes. Some of the products showed the same o...

INTRODUCTION: Enriched environments normally increase behavioral repertoires and diminish the expression of abnormal behaviors and stress-related physiological problems in animals. Although it has been shown that experimental animals infected with microorganisms can modify their behaviors and physiology, few studies have evaluated how environmental enrichment affects these parameters. This stud...

The transmission of Trypanosoma cruzi by vectors is confined to the Americas, and the infection circulates in at least two broadly defined transmission cycles occurring in domestic and sylvatic habitats. This study sought to detect and characterize infection by T. cruzi and other trypanosomes using PCR strategies in blood samples from free-ranging howler monkeys, Alouatta caraya, in the northea...

INTRODUCTION Natural and artificial ecotope infestation by the kissing bug triatomines and their colonization and infection by Trypanosoma cruzi , the Chagas disease agent, were evaluated in nine municipalities of the State of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. METHODS Following identification, triatomine intestinal contents were analyzed by direct microscopic examination, xenoculture, and polymerase...

Induction of a glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) deficiency in Trypanosoma cruzi by the heterologous expression of Trypanosoma brucei GPI-phospholipase C (GPI-PLC) results in decreased expression of major surface proteins (N. Garg, R. L. Tarleton, and K. Mensa-Wilmot, J. Biol. Chem. 272:12482-12491, 1997). To further explore the consequences of a GPI deficiency on replication and differentiati...

Trypanosoma cruzi and Trypanosoma rangeli-like trypanosomes have been found in a variety of neotropical bat species. In this study, bats (Artibeus lituratus, Carollia perspicillata, Desmodus rotundus, Glossophaga soricina, Molossus molossus, Phyllostomus hastatus) were maintained under controlled conditions, and experiments were conducted to determine how they might become infected naturally wi...

Trypanosoma cruzi phosphodiesterase C (TcrPDEC) is a potential new drug target for the treatment of Chagas disease but has not been well studied. This study reports the enzymatic properties of various kinetoplastid PDECs and the crystal structures of the unliganded TcrPDEC1 catalytic domain and its complex with an inhibitor. Mutations of PDEC during the course of evolution led to inactivation o...

Abstract Xylella fastidiosa is a plant-pathogenic bacterium that lives inside host xylem vessels, where it forms biofilm which believed to be responsible for disrupting the passage of water and nutrients. Pectobacterium carotovorum Gram-negative plant-specific causes not only soft rot in various plant hosts, but also blackleg potato by cell wall degradation. Chagas disease, caused Trypanosoma c...

INTRODUCTION Behavioral fever is a response to infections with microorganisms observed in some poikilothermic animals. Rhodnius prolixus is involved in the transmission of two parasites: Trypanosoma cruzi (pathogenic for humans and transmitted in feces) and Trypanosoma rangeli (non-pathogenic for humans, pathogenic for Rhodnius and transmitted by the bite of an infected individual). Only T. ran...

The insect Rhodnius prolixus is responsible for the transmission of Trypanosoma cruzi, which is the etiological agent of Chagas disease in areas of Central and South America. Besides this, it can be infected by other trypanosomes such as Trypanosoma rangeli. The effects of these parasites on vectors are poorly understood and are often controversial so here we focussed on possible negative effec...