Artículos de revistas
Trypanosoma cruzi could affect wild triatomine approaching behaviour to humans by altering vector nutritional status: A field test
Fecha
2020Registro en:
Acta Tropica 210 (2020) 105574
10.1016/j.actatropica.2020.105574
Autor
Estay Olea, Daniela
Correa, Juana P.
De Bona Muñoz, Sophie
Bacigalupo, Antonella
Quiroga Hidalgo, Nicol
San Juan, Esteban
Solari Illescas, Aldo
Botto Mahan, Carezza
Institución
Resumen
Hematophagous insects exhibit complex behaviour when searching for blood-meals, responding to several host stimuli. The hematophagous insect Mepraia spinolai is a wild vector of Trypanosoma cruzi, causative agent of Chagas disease in humans, in the semiarid-Mediterranean ecosystem of Chile. In this study, we evaluated the association between the approaching behaviour to a human host, with T. cruzi infection status and nutritional condition of M. spinolai. To this end, we captured 501 individuals in six consecutive 10 min-timespan, using a human as bait. Captured vectors were weighed, photographed and measured to calculate their nutritional status by means of a Standardized Body Mass Index. Trypanosoma cruzi infection was assessed in the intestinal content by using a real-time PCR assay. Ordinal logistic regressions were performed separately for infected and uninfected groups to evaluate if the nutritional status was associated with the approaching behaviour to a human host, recorded as the time-span of capture. Nutritional status of uninfected triatomines was higher than that from infected ones (p < 0.005). Among the infected, those with higher nutritional status approached first (p < 0.01); there was no effect of nutritional status in the uninfected group. Trypanosoma cruzi infection might affect the foraging behaviour of M. spinolai under natural conditions, probably deteriorating nutritional status and/or altering vector detection abilities.