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Parasitism and inflammation in ear skin and in genital tissues of symptomatic and asymptomatic male dogs with visceral leishmaniasis

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Abstract

Canine visceral leishmaniasis (CVL) is transmitted through vector, although venereal transmission has been suggested. This study aimed to compare the parasitic loads and inflammatory processes in genital tissues with ear skin from seropositive male dogs. Forty-five seropositive dogs were separated into groups containing symptomatic (n = 23) and asymptomatic (n = 22) animals. The control group (n = 2) healthy animals with seronegative and negative results in direct parasitological test. Samples of ear tip skin, prepuce, glans penis, testis, epididymis, and prostate were collected for evaluation of parasitic load and inflammatory infiltrate. Although ear tip skin was the most intensely parasitized, prepuce and epididymis revealed no difference in parasitism when compared with ear tip skin (P > 0.05). Parasitic loads in testis and prostate were lower than other tissues (P < 0.05). Parasitism in glans penis was high, similar to prepuce and epididymis, but lower than ear tip skin. High parasitism was more frequent in symptomatic dogs than asymptomatic animals. Severe inflammatory processes were more frequent within the symptomatic animals compared with asymptomatic and more predominant in prepuce and epididymis. Ear tip skin and genital tissues presented signs of chronic inflammation. There were weak and moderate positive correlations between parasitic loads and inflammatory processes. Our results demonstrate that, likewise with the ear tip skin, the genital of seropositive dogs can carry a large number of Leishmania infantum amastigotes and this process are more intense in symptomatic animals. These data have important implications for understanding the possibility of venereal transmission of CVL.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais (FAPEMIG) and the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) for the provision of financial support. The authors are grateful to the Centros de Controle de Zoonoses in Belo Horizonte and Divinópolis, MG, Brazil, for supplying animals for the study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Universidade Federal de São João Del Rei, Campus Centro-Oeste Dona Lindu, R. Sebastião Gonçalves Coelho 400, Chanadour, Divinópolis, MG, 35501-296, Brazil

    C. G. Carvalho Junior, R. G. Teixeira Neto, V. V. Lopes, V. S. Belo, N. R. Alves, T. B. de Paula, R. I. M. A. Ribeiro & E. S. Silva

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  1. C. G. Carvalho Junior
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  2. R. G. Teixeira Neto
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  3. V. V. Lopes
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  4. V. S. Belo
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  5. N. R. Alves
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  6. T. B. de Paula
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  7. R. I. M. A. Ribeiro
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  8. E. S. Silva
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Correspondence to E. S. Silva.

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The authors have declared no conflict of interest pertaining to the study presented herein.

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Carvalho Junior, C.G., Teixeira Neto, R.G., Lopes, V.V. et al. Parasitism and inflammation in ear skin and in genital tissues of symptomatic and asymptomatic male dogs with visceral leishmaniasis. Parasitol Res 116, 987–995 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-017-5375-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-017-5375-4

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