Genotypes of pathogenic Leptospira spp isolated from rodents in Argentina

Abstract

Leptospirosis is the most widespread zoonosis in the world and significant efforts have been made to determine and classify pathogenic Leptospira strains. This zoonosis is maintained in nature through chronic renal infections of carrier animals, with rodents and other small mammals serving as the most important reservoirs. Additionally, domestic animals, such as livestock and dogs, are significant sources of human infection. In this study, a multiple-locus variable-number tandem repeat analysis (MLVA) was applied to genotype 22 pathogenic Leptospira strains isolated from urban and periurban rodent populations from different regions of Argentina. Three MLVA profiles were identified in strains belonging to the species Leptospira interrogans (serovars Icterohaemorrhagiae and Canicola); one profile was observed in serovar Icterohaemorrhagiae and two MLVA profiles were observed in isolates of serovars Canicola and Portlandvere. All strains belonging to Leptospira borgpetersenii serovar Castellonis exhibited the same MLVA profile. Four different genotypes were isolated from urban populations of rodents, including both mice and rats and two different genotypes were isolated from periurban populations.

Interaction of Bovine Peripheral Blood Polymorphonuclear Cells and Leptospira Species; Innate Responses in the Natural Bovine Reservoir Host

“…We speculate that nuances in bovine pattern recognition receptors, specifically TLR2, may explain our observation in cattle as compared to reports of activation of neutrophils by Leptospira in other species (human and mouse). This corresponds to phenotypic observations of wild rodents being chronic reservoirs of Leptospira carriage while humans are susceptible to acute but rarely chronic forms of the disease (Ganoza et al, 2010 ; De Silva et al, 2014 ; Loffler et al, 2014 ; Matsui et al, 2016 ). In comparison, cattle are susceptible to chronic infection with Leptospira and this correlates with the clinical presentation of a stealth disease residing in kidney and reproductive tissues.…”

Seroprevalence of leptospiral antibodies in rodents from riverside communities of Santa Fe, Argentina

“…Several species of rodents reside in this area, including cavys (Cavia aperea), sigmodontines, murines, and the introduced squirrel Callosciurus erythraeus (Sciuridae) [21,22]. Leptospiral infection was reported in Argentina for the four introduced species [7,14,[23][24][25][26][27][28] and for the native sigmodontines Akodon azarae, Holochilus vulpinus, Oligoryzomys flavescens, Oligoryzomys nigripes and Scapteromys aquaticus [7,10,23]. In a previous publication, we reported renal carriage of Leptospira interrogans in one individual of S. aquaticus from Santa Fe [11].…”

Discriminación genotípica de serovariedades del serogrupo Icterohaemorrhagiae pertenecientes a Leptospira interrogans (Spirochaetales: Leptospiraceae) y el análisis de distancias génicas mediante coordenadas principales

“…Diferentes especies de roedores han sido descriptas como reservorios de diversas serovariedades de Leptospira spp. ( Hartskeerl et al, 2011;Grune et al, 2014a;Levett et al, 2010;Scialfa et al, 2010). Las ratas son frecuentemente reservorio de las serovariedades Icterohaemorrhagiae y Copenhageni, del serogrupo Icterohaemorrhagiae de la especie Leptospira interrogans, mientras las Leptospiras aisladas de ratones pertenecen al serogrupo Ballum de la especie L. borgpetersenii.…”

“…Otros trabajos reportaron leptospirosis en poblaciones de roedores en áreas urbanas y suburbanas de Argentina sin poder discriminar las serovariedades del serogrupo Icterohaemorrhagiae (Scialfa et al, 2010, Grune et al, 2014a. En un trabajo publicado en el 2002 por Seijo, se detallan serovares pertenecientes al serogrupo Icterohaemorrhagiae (sin poder ser discriminados) en caninos, ratas, ratones, armadillos, y porcinos.…”