Hidden diversity in anthropophilic sand flies of the Monticola Series (Diptera, Psychodidae).

The Monticola series comprises two anthropophilic and widely distributed species in Brazil: Pintomyia (Pifanomyia) monticola (Costa Lima, 1932) and Pintomyia (Pifanomyia) misionensis (Castro, 1959). They mainly occur in the Atlantic Rainforest, and it is known that Pi. monticola comprises at least two well-structured genetic lineages regarding a fragment of the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene.

Antigenic reactivity of Leishmania (Viannia) lainsoni axenic amastigote proved to be a suitable alternative for optimizing Montenegro skin test.

Background: Laboratory diagnosis of American cutaneous leishmaniasis (ACL) requires a tool amenable to the epidemiological status of ACL in Brazil. Montenegro skin test (MST), an efficient immunological tool used for laboratory diagnosis of ACL, induces delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) response to the promastigote antigens of Leishmania; however, human immune responses against infection are modulated by the amastigote of the parasite. Leishmania (V.

Nocturnal activity and forestry-urban dispersal of phlebotomine sand flies (Diptera: Psychodidae) from an ecotourism park in Amazonian Brazil.

Phlebotomine sand flies are insects of notorious importance in public health, mainly due to their involvement in the transmission of Leishmania protozoa. Their flight activity occurs predominantly in the twilight/night period, being stimulated mainly by the need to search for food and reproduction. Despite being naturally wild, some species are able to invade anthropized environments.

Ground-dwelling invertebrates from an Urban park in the Brazilian Amazon, with particular reference to Phlebotominae (Diptera: Psychodidae).

The ground-dwelling invertebrate fauna from an urban park in Belém, Amazonian Brazil, with particular reference to the subfamily Phlebotominae (Diptera: Psychodidae), were characterized. Sampling was performed from March 2022 to May 2023, with 10 emergence traps installed in 2 microhabitats, 5 in each 1: "M1," which included surrounding (up to 1.5 m) trees with tabular roots, and "M2," which included no trees with tabular roots.

Experimental Susceptibility of and (Psychodidae: Phlebotominae) to () and () (Trypanosomatidae: Leishmaniinae).

The present work assessed the experimental susceptibility of and to () and (.) . A () - combination was used as a susceptible control.

Assessment of light-emitting diodes for sampling phlebotomines (Diptera: Psychodidae) from an urban park of the Brazilian Amazon.

The present study aimed to assess different light sources for sampling phlebotomines (Diptera: Psychodidae) from Bosque Rodrigues Alves, a forested park surrounded by the urban area of Belém in the Brazilian Amazon. Centers for Disease Control traps, baited with blue, green, and warm white light-emitting diodes (LEDs), as test group, and incandescent light, as control group, were used. The electromagnetic spectra and luminous intensities of the light sources were characterized.

Gene Signatures of Symptomatic and Asymptomatic Clinical-Immunological Profiles of Human Infection by () in Amazonian Brazil.

Individuals infected with () may present different asymptomatic and symptomatic stages of infection, which vary in the clinical-immunological profiles that can be classified as asymptomatic infection (AI), subclinical resistant infection (SRI), indeterminate initial infection (III), subclinical oligosymptomatic infection (SOI), and symptomatic infection (SI) (=American visceral leishmaniasis, AVL). However, little is known about the molecular differences between individuals having each profile. Here, we performed whole-blood transcriptomic analyses of 56 infected individuals from Pará State (Brazilian Amazon), covering all five profiles.

Comparative Genomic Analyses of New and Old World Viscerotropic Leishmanine Parasites: Further Insights into the Origins of Visceral Leishmaniasis Agents.

Visceral leishmaniasis (VL), also known as kala-azar, is an anthropozoonotic disease affecting human populations on five continents. Aetiologic agents belong to the Leishmania (L.) donovani complex.

Artificial blood-feeding of phlebotomines (Diptera: Psychodidae: Phlebotominae): is it time to repurpose biological membranes in light of ethical concerns?

Background: The aims of the present study were to evaluate and compare the efficacy of blood-feeding in phlebotomines through industrially processed membranes from the small intestine of pigs (used for the production of commercial sausages) and the skin of euthanized chicks.

Methods: Laboratory-bred Lutzomyia longipalpis and different field-caught phlebotomine species were subjected to the artificial feeding systems under similar conditions. Paired tests were performed using the control (skin from euthanized chicks) and test membranes (pig small intestine).

Blood Feeding Sources of Nyssomyia antunesi (Diptera: Psychodidae): A Suspected Vector of Leishmania (Kinetoplastida: Trypanosomatidae) in the Brazilian Amazon.

Present work aimed to identify blood feeding sources and attempt to detect Leishmania DNA in Nyssomyia antunesi, suspected vector of Leishmania sp., from a park in the urban center of Belém, the capital of Pará State, in the Brazilian Amazon. Entire bodies and gut contents of Ny.

Whole-Genome Sequencing of Leishmania infantum chagasi Isolates from Honduras and Brazil.

This work reports on the whole-genome sequencing of Leishmania infantum chagasi from Honduras (Central America) and Brazil (South America).

Morphological description of immature stages of Trichophoromyia brachipyga (Mangabeira) (Diptera: Psychodidae: Phlebotominae).

Trichophoromyia brachipyga (Mangabeira) (Diptera: Psychodidae: Phlebotominae) is a widely distributed species that has been recently regarded as a putative vector of Leishmania (Viannia) lainsoni Silveira, Shaw, Braga Ishikawa in the Brazilian Amazon region. Currently, no immature stages of the genus Trichophoromyia Barretto have been morphologically described. The present study provided, for the first time, using a light microscopy morpho-taxonomical approach, the description of the egg, fourth-instar larva, and pupa of Th.

Urine qPCR diagnoses over the entire clinical-immunological spectrum of human Leishmania (L.) infantum chagasi-infections in the Brazilian Amazon.

The clinical-immunological spectrum of human Leishmania (L.) infantum chagasi-infections in the Brazilian Amazon has been defined using DTH/IFAT-IgG immune assays and the clinical statuses of infected individuals, revealing five profiles: three asymptomatic [Asymptomatic Infection (AI), Subclinical Resistant Infection (SRI), and Indeterminate Initial Infection (III)], and two symptomatic profiles [Subclinical Oligosymptomatic Infection (SOI) and Symptomatic Infection (SI = American visceral leishmaniasis/AVL)]. We evaluated the diagnostic potential of urine qPCR over the entire spectrum of infection.

Further insights into the eco-epidemiology of American cutaneous leishmaniasis in the Belem metropolitan region, Pará State, Brazil.

Introduction: In the Belém Metropolitan Region (BMR), Pará State, Brazil, American cutaneous leishmaniasis (ACL) is endemic; however, very little is known regarding its causative agents. Therefore, we used our standard diagnostic approach combined with an RNA polymerase II largest subunit (RNAPOIILS)-polymerase chain reaction (PCR) followed by analysis of restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) to identify Leishmania spp. ACL agents in this region.

New record of preclinical diagnosis of American visceral leishmaniasis in Amazonian Brazil encourages optimizing disease control.

The clinical-immunological spectrum of human -infection in Amazonian Brazil has recently been reviewed based on the combined use of the delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) and indirect fluorescence antibody test (IFAT-IgG/IgM), both with homologous -antigens, and associated with the clinical evaluation of infected individuals. This diagnostic approach has allowed to identify the broadest clinical-immunological spectrum of human -infection composed by five clinical-immunological profiles of infection: three asymptomatic, 1) Asymptomatic Infection (AI) [DTH, IFAT], 2) Subclinical Resistant Infection (SRI) [DTH, IFAT], and 3) Indeterminate Initial Infection (III) [DTH, IFAT], and two symptomatic ones, 4) Symptomatic Infection (SI) [=American visceral leishmaniasis - AVL] and, 5) Subclinical Oligosymptomatic Infection (SOI), both with the same immune profile [DTH, IFAT]. Herein, we confirm for the third time the preclinical diagnosis of AVL through IgM-antibody response in an early asymptomatic case of infection (profile III), a 17-year-old boy who evolved to AVL (=profile SI) six weeks after the initial infection diagnosis, confirming that the combined use of DTH and IFAT-(IgG/IgM) assays associated with the clinical evaluation of infected individuals is potentially useful for monitoring human -infection in endemic areas as well as optimizing AVL control.

First report on feline leishmaniasis caused by Leishmania (Leishmania) amazonensis in Amazonian Brazil.

In the present study, we reported the natural infection by Leishmania sp. in a domestic cat, in which the amastigote forms of the parasite were observed within a lesion on its ear-tip. Fragment of the lesion was obtained and cultured in NNN medium, and PCR-RFLP analysis of the isolated sample was performed, which revealed that the profile was compatible with Leishmania (L.

Increasing putative vector importance of Trichophoromyia phlebotomines (Diptera: Psychodidae).

Despite some phlebotomines being well recognised as vectors of leishmaniasis agents, vector importance of those belonging to the genus Trichophoromyia has not been extensively studied. The present study provides evidence regarding the putative vector role played by some species of Trichophoromyia on leishmanine enzootics, based on literature reports and findings obtained from field experiments conducted in the ecotopes of Pará State, Brazil. The species Th.

Morphological identification of species of the Nuneztovari Complex of Anopheles (Diptera: Culicidae) from an area affected by a Brazilian hydroelectric plant.

The Nuneztovari Complex of Anopheles (Diptera: Culicidae) comprises four species: An. nuneztovari Gabaldon, An. goeldii Rozeboom Gabaldon, An.

Scanning Electron Microscopy of Sand Flies of the Chagasi Series, Psychodopygus (Diptera: Psychodidae) Genus, Focusing on the Genitalia.

Males of cryptic or closely related species present great morphological variation in their genitalia, whereas females, such as those of the Chagasi Series of the Psychodopygus Mangabeira, 1941 genus, are more similar. Therefore, our aim was to study the fine structure of the male genitalia of five species of the Chagasi Series to better understand the variation in their morphology and its influence on the copulatory process. The sand fly species were captured in the following Brazilian states: Psychodopygus chagasi (Costa Lima, 1941) (Rondônia), Psychodopygus complexus (Mangabeira, 1941) (Tocantins), Psychodopygus squamiventris maripaensis (Floch & Abonnenc, 1946) (Amapá), Psychodopygus squamiventris squamiventris (Lutz & Neiva, 1912) (Amazonas), and Psychodopygus wellcomei Fraiha, Shaw & Lainson, 1971 (Pará and Ceará).

Phlebotomines (Diptera: Psychodidae) from a Urban Park of Belém, Pará State, Northern Brazil and Potential Implications in the Transmission of American Cutaneous Leishmaniasis.

In urban ecotourism parks, the life cycle of American cutaneous leishmaniasis (ACL) agents can remain established, where phlebotomines may comprise potential risks for visitors. The present study aimed to survey the phlebotomine fauna of a forest park 'Bosque Rodriques Alves-Jardim Botânico da Amazônia' (BRAJBA), in the urban area of Belém, Brazil. The park was monthly surveyed in 2018 using CDC light traps placed in ground and canopy strata.