SYNANTHROPIC MAMMALS IN TRANSMISSION CYCLE OF TRYPANOSOMA CRUZI IN YUCATÁN, MEXICO

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Trypanosoma cruzi comprises highly heterogeneus populations classified within six Discrete Typing Unit (DTU´s) named Tc-I to Tc-VI ans TcBat. Evolutionary history of T. cruzi has a very strong association with their mammal hosts and some phylogenetic and ecolobiologically studies suggest that ecotopes, hosts and vectors are factors that determine the different lineages of T. cruzi. METHODS: Herein we characterized T. cruzi isolates from synanthropic individuals of Didelphis virginiana and Rattus rattus captured in the village of Molas, Yucatan. RESULTS: Forty households were selected and traps were placed in the yard during January to May of 2014. Sixty six opossum (Didelphis virginiana) and twenty five rats (Rattus rattus) were captured and 13 were diagnosed as T. cruzi infected by microhematocrit and blood culture. Ten isolates of T. cruzi were obtained for phylogenetic analysis with SSU rDNA, gGAPDH and Cytochrome B genes to describe the relationships between them and classify them into the different DTU´s. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated the participation of synanthropic animals D. virginiana and R. rattus as a reservoirs of T. cruzi in Yucatan_Mexico and the different isolates of the parasite belonged to Tc-I. The proximity of these species to the domestic environment favor the contact of the trypanosome with the human population in domestic environment.