Olga M. Guerrero

Presencia de anticuerpos contra Trypanosoma cruzi en perros de Costa Rica

Trypanosoma cruzi antibody presence was studied in pet and stray dogs from endemic and non endemic zones. Five percent of pet dogs from endemic zones were positive against a 1.6% from non endemic areas. Twelve percent of stray dogs were positive independent of the procedence.

Determination of Toxoplasma gondii in several organs of cattle by carbon immunoassay (CIA) testing

Samples of muscle, heart, liver and lung were tested for the presence of Toxoplasma gondii using mice as a biologic detector and the carbon immunoassay (CIA) for immunological diagnosis. In positive tissues the percentage of samples positive ranged from 10 to 50% which indicates the importance of cattle in the epidemiology of Toxoplasma in Costa Rica. We discuss these findings in relation to the transmission of the parasite in Costa Rica.

Presencia de Plasmodium brasilianum (Apicomplexa, Plasmodidae) en el mono congo (Alouatta palliata, Primates: Cebidae) de Costa Rica: Importancia epidemiológica en relación con el ser humano

***, OLGA MARTA GUERRERO*,GUSTAVO GUTIERREZ** y RONALD SANCHEZ***** Centro de Investigacion en Enfermedades Tropicales, Departamento de Parasitologia, Facultad de Microbiologia,Universidad de Costa Rica.** Escuela de Biologia, Universidad de Costa Rica.*** Departamento de Investigacion, Universidad de Ciencias Medicas (UCIMED).**** Sede de Occidente, Universidad de Costa Rica.Direccion: Misael Chinchilla Carmona Ph.D. Departamento de de Parasitologia, Facultad de Microbiologia,Universidad de Costa Rica. San Jose, Costa Rica, America Central. Email: chinchillacm@UCIMED.com

COSTA RICAN INTERNATIONAL COOPERATIVE BIODIVERSITY GROUP: USING INSECTS AND OTHER ARTHROPODS IN BIODIVERSITY PROSPECTING

articulo -- Universidad de Costa Rica. Escuela de Quimica, Universidad de Costa Rica. Facultad de Microbiologia. Departmento Parasitologia, Universidad de Costa Rica. Instituto Clodomiro Picado, 1999. Este documento es privado debido a limitaciones de derechos de autor.

Parásitos en monos carablanca Cebus capucinus (Primates: Cebidae) de Costa Rica

***, OLGA M. GUERRERO*, GUSTAVO A. GUTIERREZ-ESPELETA**,RONALD SANCHEZ**** y IDALIA VALERIO CAMPOS**** Centro de Investigacion en Enfermedades Tropicales, Departamento de Parasitologia, Facultad de Microbiologia,Universidad de Costa Rica.** Escuela de Biologia, Universidad de Costa Rica.*** Departamento de Investigacion, Universidad de Ciencias Medicas (UCIMED).**** Sede de Occidente, Universidad de Costa Rica.

Presencia de Trypanosoma minasense (Kinetoplastida: Trypanosomatidae) en Alouatta palliata (Primates: Cebidae) de Costa Rica

* Centro de Investigacion en Enfermedades Tropicales (CIET), Departamento de Parasitologia, Facultad deMicrobiologia Universidad de Costa Rica.** Escuela de Biologia, Universidad de Costa Rica.*** Escuela de Biologia, Centro Regional de Occidente, Universidad de Costa Rica.**** Departamento de Investigacion, Universidad de Ciencias Medicas.Direccion: Misael Chinchilla. Facultad de Microbiologia, Universidad de Costa Rica. San Jose, Costa Rica,America Central.

Patología en pollos inoculados oralmente con diferentes concentraciones de ooquistes de Toxoplasma gondii

oocysts. The infection development was monitored studying symptoms, survival time andantibody presence in these chickens. Severe diarrhea, anorexia and weight loss were present beforedeath that start 5 days after infection. Survival time was lower in those animals infected with a higheroocyst number. Small intestine, liver and lung presented more intense pathology and antibodyproduction started 10 days after infection, increased after 20 days and then declined. The importanceof these findings relating to the role of chickens in the transmission of

Yeasts Isolated from Alouatta Palliata, Ateles Geoffroyi, Cebus Capucinus and Saimiri oerstedii (Primates: Cebidae)

Parker, I. M. 1997. Pollinator limitation of Cytisus scoparius (Scotch broom), an invasive exotic shrub. Ecology 78: 1457–1470. Passos, F. C. and Kim, A. C. 1999. Nectar feeding on Mabea fistuifera Mart. (Euphorbiaceae) by black lion tamarin, Leontopithecus chrysopygus Mikan, 1983 (Callitrichidae), during the dry season in southeastern Brazil. Mammalia 63(4): 519–521. Pereira, M. E. and Fairbanks, L. A. 1993. Juvenile Primates. Life history, development and behavior. Oxford University Press, New York. Peres, C. A. 1994. Primate responses to phenological changes in a Amazonian terra firme forest. Biotropica 26(1): 98–112. Puertas, P., Aquino, R. and Encarnación, F. 1992. Uso de alimentos y competición entre el mono nocturno Aotus vociferans y otros mamíferos, Loreto, Perú. Folia Amazónica 4(2): 147–156. Riba-Hernández, P. and Stoner, K. 2005. Massive destruction of Symphonia globulifera (Clusiaceae) flowers by Central American spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi). Biotropica 37(2): 274–278. Rumiz, D. I. 1990. Alouatta caraya: Population density and demography in Northern Argentina. Am. J. Primatol. 21: 279–294. Sussman, R. W. 1979. Nectar feeding by prosimians and its evolutionary and ecological implications. In: Primates ecology: problem-oriented field studies, R. W. Sussman RW (ed.), pp. 569–577. John Wiley and Sons, New York. Stout, J. C., Parnell, J. A. N., Arroyo, J. and Crowe, T. P. 2006. Pollination ecology and seed production of Rhododendron ponticum in native and exotic habitats. Biodiv. Conserv. 15: 755–777. Torres de Assumpção, C. T. 1981. Cebus apella and Brachyteles arachnoides (Cebidae) as potencial pollinators of Mabea fistulifera (Euphorbiaceae). J. Mammal. 62(2): 386–388. Zunino, G. E., Kowalewski, M. M., Oklander, L. I. and Gonzalez, V. 2007. Habitat fragmentation and population trends of the black and gold howler monkey (Alouatta caraya) in a semideciduous forest in northern Argentina. Am. J. Primatol. 69: 966–975. Zunino, G. E. and Kowalewski, M. M. 2008. Primate research and conservation in northern Argentina: the field station Corrientes (Estación Biológica de Usos Múltiples – EBCo). Trop. Cons. Science 1(2): 140–150. Yeasts Isolated From alouatta palliata, ateles Geoffroyi, cebus capucinus and saimiri oerstedii (Primates: Cebidae)

Role of interferon - g on the immunosuppression during Toxoplasma gondii infection by Trypanosoma lewisi

On the basis of previous studies on Trypanosoma lewisi immunosuppression model groups of 5 Wistar rats were infected with. T. gondii and T. lewisi according to the following protocol. One group was inoculated i.p. with 10 6 T. lewisi tripanomastigotes and 4 days later with 10 7 T. gondii tachyzoites. The second and third groups were infected only with T. lewisi or T. gondii respectively. The fourth group was not infected and served as control. Rats were bled before the infection and then every day for seven days. Serum samples were collected and the levels of IFN-γ, IL-2 and TNF-α were measured. The results indicates that the level of IFN-γ is very high 24 hour after infection in rats inoculated with T. gondii only, while in those animals infected with both parasites (first group), IFNγ was not detected 24 hours after infections with T. gondii. These data give evidence that a reduction of IFN-γ levels is one of the reasons for the immunosuppressive effect induced by T. lewisi, increasing T. gondii multiplication in an animal as the rat, which is remarkable resistant to this parasite.

Effect of Trypanosoma lewisi infection on the Toxoplasma gondii multiplication in white rat peritoneal macrophages

ABSTRACT Peritoneal macrophages (PM) from normal Wistar rats were treated in vitro with peritonealsupernatant or sera, obtained from rats infected with 10 6 Trypanosoma lewisi trypomastigotes beforethe infection with Toxoplasma gondii tachyzoites. In this experimental model, Toxoplasma multiplication in PM was increased, as compared to macrophages treated with supernatant or serafrom control rats not infected with T. lewisi . This effect was observed only if the active supernatantor sera came from rats infected with the T. lewisi 3 to 6 d before Toxoplasma inoculation.Furthermore, immunosuppressive activity was only detectable after at least 24 h incubation with thesupernatant or sera. These results are in accordance with our in vivo previous studies whichdemonstrated a clear immunosuppressive effect of T. lewisi during T.gondii infection of the remarkablyresistant Wistar rats. Key words : Immunosuppression, Toxoplasma gondii, Trypanosoma lewis i, peritoneal macrophages. INTRODUCTIONImmunosuppressive effects in parasiticinfections allow greater parasite multiplication inthe final host, causing important pathologydevelopment. That is the case of filariosis,schistosomosis, trichinosis and others diseases