First description of Echinococcus ortleppi and cystic echinococcosis infection status in Chile

Abstract

Cystic echinococcosis (CE), a parasitic disease caused by the cestode Echinococcus granulosus sensu lato (s.l.), is a worldwide zoonotic infection. Although endemic in Chile, information on the molecular characteristics of CE in livestock remains scarce. Therefore we aimed to describe the status of infection with E. granulosus s.l. in cattle from central Chile and also to contribute to the study of the molecular epidemiology of this parasite. According to our results, the prevalence of CE is 18.84% in cattle, similar to previous reports from Chile, suggesting that the prevalence in Santiago Metropolitan area has not changed in the last 30 years. Most of the cysts were found only in lungs (51%), followed by concurrent infection in liver and lungs (30%), and only liver (19%). Molecular characterization of the genetic diversity and population structure of E. granulosus s.l. from cattle in central Chile was performed using a section of the cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (cox1) mitochondrial gene. E. granulosus sensu stricto (s.s.) (G1-G3 genotypes) was confirmed by RFLP-PCR to be the dominant species affecting cattle (284 samples/290 samples); we also report for the first time in Chile the presence of E. ortleppi (G5 genotype) (2 samples/61 samples). The Chilean E. granulosus s.s. parsimony network displayed 1 main haplotype. Additional studies using isolates from many locations across Chile and different intermediate hosts will provide more data on the molecular structure of E. granulosus s.s. within this region. Likewise, investigations of the importance of E. ortleppi in human infection in Chile deserve future attention.

Echinococcus granulosus hydatid cyst location is modified by Fasciola hepatica infection in cattle

“…A recent study in Chile, found that the proportion of organs infected with E. granulosus varied among geographical locations [ 36 ]. These authors have shown that of the genotyped cysts, belonging to 47.95% of E. granulosus -infected animals, most were identified as E. granulosus ( s.s. ) as has previously been reported in cattle in Chile [ 26 ]; this species is also the most common worldwide [ 37 ].…”

“…Echinococcus granulosus ( s.l. ) genotyping in hydatid cyst samples was determined as previously reported [ 26 ]. Briefly, DNA was extracted from fertile, infertile and small hydatid cysts from both livers and lungs.…”

The secreted protein signature of hydatid fluid from pulmonary cystic echinococcosis

“…While the fertility rate of E. ortleppi bovine cysts is very high (>90%), for E. granulosus it normally does not exceed 30% in this host species [2,[16][17][18]. Moreover, E. ortleppi develops preferentially in lungs, whereas E. granulosus bovine cysts locate in both liver and lungs [19][20][21][22]. Therefore, E. granulosus and E. ortleppi bovine cysts offer the opportunity to comparatively assess two related species with different degrees of adaptation to a single host species.…”

Aspectos Generales del Perfil Proteómico del Echinococcus granulosus

“…Términos ontológicos del proceso biológico, función molecular y subcategorías de componentes celulares de genes asociados con proteínas del parásitos identificadas en el fluido de un quiste hidatídico mediante Blast2Go. G3, G5 y G6) (Manterola et al, 2008;Espinoza et al, 2014;Alvarez Rojas et al, 2017;Corrêa et al, 2018;Hernández et al, 2019); puesto que la existente (Providean Hidatil EG 95Ò), fue desarrollada por utilizando una pequeña fracción proteica de la membrana exterior del parásito; por lo cual presenta una serie de limitaciones, por ejemplo no otorgar similar cobertura en otros genotipos como G6 y G7, pues fue desarrollada para G1; y no da cobertura a la gran variabilidad de haplotipos descritos (Chow et al, 2008;Alvarez Rojas et al, 2013).…”