Serological and molecular detection of infection with Mycobacterium leprae in Brazilian six banded armadillos (Euphractus sexcinctus)

Publication date: Available online 18 November 2019Source: Comparative Immunology, Microbiology and Infectious DiseasesAuthor(s): Jéssica da Silva Ferreira, Fernanda Marques de Carvalho, Maria Cristina Vidal Pessolani, João Marcelo Azevedo de Paula Antunes, Ilanna Vanessa Pristo de Medeiros Oliveira, Gabriela Hémylin Ferreira Moura, Richard Wayne Truman, Maria Teresa Peña, Rahul Sharma, Malcolm S. Duthie, Ricardo José de Paula Souza e Guimarães, Amanda Nogueira Brum Fontes, Philip NoelSuffys, Douglas McIntoshAbstractLeprosy was recognized as a zoonotic disease, associated with nine-banded armadillos (Dasypus novemcinctus) in the Southern United States of America in 2011. In addition, there is growing evidence to support a role for armadillos in zoonotic leprosy in South America. The current study evaluated twenty specimens of the six-banded armadillo (Euphractus sexcinctus), collected from rural locations in the state of Rio Grande do Notre (RN), Brazil for evidence of infection with Mycobacterium leprae. Serum was examined using two "in-house" enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) and via two commercially available (ML flow and NDO-LID®) immunochromatographic lateral flow (LF) tests, for detection of the PGL-I and/or LID-1 antigens of the bacterium. The presence of M. leprae DNA in liver tissue was examined using the multi-copy, M. leprae-specific repetitive element (RLEP), as target in conventional and nested PCR assays. Molecular and anti-PGL-I-ELISA data indi...
Source: Comparative Immunology, Microbiology and Infectious Diseases - Category: Infectious Diseases Source Type: research