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PubMedDate not supplied

[Experience in raising the effectiveness of diagnosing the Gambian type of trypanosomiasis].

A method of detecting the parasites in their low blood amounts by using DEAE cellulose column chromatography is described and compared to other laboratory diagnostic techniques, in particular, for trypanosomiasis. A screening of 250 patients with suspected trypanosomiasis was performed. Serological survey and studies of primary medical documentation in Angola sanitary areas endemic for Gambian trypanosomiasis in 1983-1985, preceded the selection of the examined group. In spite of some limitations of the method, in allowed one to detect Trypanosoma in 17% patients, whose infection was not revealed by classic methods. The method allowed one to reveal more cases of infection (44.2%) than the study of a lymph nodal punctate (37.5%), blood (24%) or cerebrospinal fluid (13%).

Angola↗

PubMed1989

Trypanosomiasis in a rural hospital in Tanzania. A retrospective study of its management and the results of treatment.

A retrospective analysis was done of the management and the results of treatment in 158 trypanosomiasis patients seen in a rural hospital in Tanzania during 1985. The distribution of cases in the population and during the year reflected an endemic situation. 109 patients (68.9%) were in the meningoencephalitic (ME) stage and 49 (31.1%) in the hematolymphatic (HL) stage of the disease. In total 19 patients (12.0%) died, 17 with ME and 2 with HL trypanosomiasis. Encephalopathy was seen in 19 (17.9%) of 106 patients treated with melarsoprol, and 10 of them died. In 15 (24.4%) of 64 patients who were discharged as HL trypanosomiasis evidence of CNS-involvement was found during follow-up after 3 and/or 9 months.

Animals↗

PubMed1988

[Early auditory evoked potentials in normal sheep and in sheep with trypanosomiasis].

In human and animal clinics, the early auditory potential has been used for a long time in the detection of lesions through the internal auditory way in the cerebral trunk. The aim of this work tries to determine if this non invasive test is apt to show up and to follow the evolution of lesions at the level of auditory way in the cerebral trunk of sheep with trypanosomiasis. According to the human technic, the list of the early auditory potential was realized against ten healthy sheep and ten sheep with trypanosomiasis (Trypanosoma brucei brucei) at the nervous phase. No significant anomalies exist in the sheep with trypanosomiasis. The results are discussed.

Animals↗

PubMed1985

[Congenital trypanosomiasis and leishmaniasis].

Trypanosomas and leishmanias can cross the placenta. Trypanosoma cruzi (American trypanosomiasis or Chagas' disease) may infect the placenta, with or without fetal transmission (congenital trypanosomiasis). Congenital transmission of Chagas' disease is a real problem of public health. Risk of congenital infections is less important for African trypanosomiasis and leishmaniasis. However, physicians should always think of this diagnosis in individual cases, since these diseases may occur in any part of the world, including outside the endemic areas.

Chagas Disease↗

PubMed1983

A simple classification of different types of trypanosomiasis occurring in four camel herds in selected areas of Kenya.

Camels from herds in four different areas of Kenya were sampled at regular intervals over periods of 9-15 months and examined for the presence of trypanosomiasis. Five hundred and eight camels divided into three age categories were studied. Trypanosomiasis caused by T. evansi, T. brucei and T. congolense was shown to be present in varying degrees in all the herds. Camels were divided into 5 types according to mortality, the presence or absence of circulating trypanosomes and antibody, and the presence or absence of emaciation and anaemia. Herd profiles were constructed according to the percentage of the different types over the whole of their respective study periods. Results indicated that camels in some herds show a calf-hood resistance to trypanosomiasis in endemic areas and that the disease may be present in a relatively stable situation. Some of the implications of these results are discussed.

Animals↗

PubMed1983

Relevance of autoantigens to autoimmunity in African trypanosomiasis: study of DNA and thyroglobulin antibodies.

In order to investigate whether the autoantibody production in the course of African trypanosomiasis is the result of a generalized polyclonal activation or if it is a specific (antigen-dependent) phenomenon we looked for the presence of autoantibodies directed against autoantigens likely to be released (DNA) or unlikely to be released (thyroglobulin) into the circulation during human T. gambiense infection. Sera from 21 patients with African trypanosomiasis were screened for anti-native DNA or anti-denatured DNA antibodies by a Farr DNA binding radioimmunoassay. In addition, antibodies to native DNA were also assessed by indirect immunofluorescent assays using Crithidia luciliae or rat liver sections as substrates. Anti-thyroglobulin antibodies were studied by the passive hemagglutination technique. IgM levels and fluorescent anti-trypanosomal antibodies (FATA) were concomitantly evaluated. The denaturated DNA binding capacity was significantly higher in the sera from trypanosomiasis patients than in sera from healthy blood donors. These capacities were greater in patients with high IgM levels and high FATA titres. Anti-native DNA or anti-thyroglobulin antibodies were not detected. This preferential formation of anti-denatured DNA antibodies suggests a specific antigen-dependent) activation of autoreactive cells rather than a generalized polyclonal activation.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1980

Trypanosoma brucei brucei: a model for cerebral trypanosomiasis in mice--an immunological, histological and electronmicroscopic study.

The successful induction of cerebral trypanosomiasis in ordinary laboratory mice using Trypanosoma brucei brucei is reported. Sequential studies demonstrated the presence of trypanosomes in the interstitium of the choroid plexus at the fourth week after infection which correlated with the appearance of anti-trypanosomal antibodies, a rise of IgM and IgG serum levels and a rise of Clq binding activity as well as a decrease of C3 levels. Electronmicroscopic studies showed that the parasites were flagellated and localized extracellularly mainly in the interstitium of the choroid plexus. Granular immunofluorescent deposits of Ig and C3 were most marked in the choroid plexus. Electron-dense deposits suggestive of immune complexes were seen in subendothelial, interstitial and subependymal areas of the choroid plexus. Since autoantibodies to the brain were found in the serum of some mice, the possible involvement of autoimmune manifestations in the pathogenesis of cerebral lesions has to be considered. The pattern of inflammatory foci at the eighth week after infection was very similar to that observed in cerebral African trypanosomiasis in man. After treatment with ethidium bromide, trypanosomes persisted in the tissues when circulating parasites could no longer be detected. These observations suggest a sequential involvement of brain structures during African trypanosomiasis. Trypanosomes may first migrate from the vascular compartment into the interstitium of the choroid plexus, possible favoured by increased vascular permeability. Circulating immune complexes and complement activation may be involved at this state. Trypanosomes localized in the choroid plexus may then trigger a local immunologically mediated inflammatory reaction favouring the migration of trypanosomes into the CSF and further invasion of other cerebral structures.

Animals↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[Autoantibodies in human african trypanosomiasis (smooth muscle antibodies during a Trypanosoma gambiense disease) (author's transl)].

The authors report the case of a patient with a T. gambiense african trypanosomiasis who presented up to one year after treatment autoimmune disorders seemingly related to this infection, and especially smooth muscle autoantibodies with high titres, antinuclear antibodies, antibodies to erythrocytes, and rheumatoid factors, with probably production of immune complexes and complement activation by both pathways. The particularity of this case is the production of smooth muscle autoantibodies, which has never been reported before in african trypanosomiasis. It seems that other usual conditions of smooth muscle antibodies production may be eliminated, and no antigenic community between some components of smooth muscles and trypanosomes has been found. So it may be an autoimmune disorder induced by trypanosomiasis and possibly linked with cytotoxicity effects.

Adult↗

PubMed1994

An evaluation of the reactivity of the card agglutination test for trypanosomiasis (CATT) reagent in the Fontem sleeping sickness focus, Cameroon.

The TestrypR Card Agglutination Test for Trypanosomiasis (CATT) used for the serodiagnosis of gambiense trypanosomiasis is based on the variant antigen type (VAT) LiTat 1.3. This antigen is rarely expressed by trypanosomes in the Fontem focus of Cameroon, but the CATT has been used for serodiagnosis in the focus since 1985. We give here a summary of results obtained with the CATT in Fontem from 1985 to 1989. The CATT is specific for trypanosome antibodies since: (a) sera from persons with other parasitoses from areas non endemic for trypanosomiasis fail to react and (b) an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) based on the detection of antibodies to somatic antigens of T.b gambiense from Fontem concorded with the CATT. CATT reactions in Fontem seem to be specific for the variant surface glycoprotein (VSG) since absorption of CATT reactive sera with formalin fixed bloodstream T. gambiense from Fontem and with culture produced procyclics of T. gambiense from Fontem failed to abrogate CATT reactivity. CATT on serum failed to confirm 37% of CATT positive cases on whole blood. Although immunoconglutinin (IK), anti-human red blood cell (RBC) antibodies and complement fixing immune complexes (ICs) were found in sera from Fontem, our results failed to incriminate immunoconglutination of RBCs, reactions of RBCs with their autoantibodies and immune adherence hemagglutination as contributory factors in this lack of agreement between CATT on serum and whole blood. Further, comparison of whole blood and serum CATT results of parasitologically confirmed patients leads to the conclusion that screening with the CATT in the Fontem focus should be done on whole blood, not serum or plasma. CATT reactions in Fontem are based on cross-reactions with as yet undefined VATs.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1993

The current epidemiology and control of trypanosomiasis and other zoonoses in Tanzania.

The epidemiology and control strategies of African trypanosomiasis, plague, rabies, brucellosis, anthrax and hydatidosis, the most important and well documented zoonotic diseases in Tanzania, have been described. Bovine tuberculosis, tetanus, taeniosis, trichinosis and tungosis are also endemic in some parts of the country but records of their incidences are not available. Initial outbreaks of trypanosomiasis in Tanzania were caused by Trypanosoma gambiense which originated from West Africa and reached Tanzania via Zaire around 1902. T. rhodesiense which is currently responsible for human trypanosomiasis in Tanzania was introduced from Mozambique around 1910 and quickly spread to many parts of the country. The disease is currently prevalent in the western, north and northwestern parts, the southern highlands and southern regions. Over 6000 cases have reported since 1979. Control strategies against sleeping sickness in Tanzania include chemical control of vectors, treatment of patients with trypanocides and avoidance of humantsetse contact. Plague is mostly endemic in central, northern and north-eastern Tanzania. A total of 8161 cases with 1885 deaths have been recorded since 1890. The disease is currently prevalent in Lushoto district where outbreaks have been experienced since 1980, and in Singida district where it has been endemic since 1918. Integrated control measures are currently applied and were possibly responsible for the 1989 decline of outbreaks in the area. Financial constraints which led to deterioration of control activities from July 1989 probably accounted for the severe outbreaks in 1990/91 which spread to other parts of the country. Rabies is endemic country-wide except in Mtwara, Lindi and Zanzibar. Domestic dogs are the principal transmitters and prompt vaccination and destruction of unvaccinated stray dogs are the main control measures. Brucellosis is widely endemic in livestock and potentially so in humans. Destruction of infected animals, immunisation of susceptible ones, proper boiling of milk and its products and chemotherapy are the currently applied control measures against the disease. Anthrax and hydatidosis are sparsely endemic in the country, and they are mostly controlled by appropriate meat inspection and consequent condemnation and proper disposal of the affected meat. Vaccination and treatment of animals are also effective against anthrax.

Animals↗

PubMed1993

[African human trypanosomiasis: study of a scoring system of presumptive diagnosis in the Congo].

A case-control study was carried out in the Congo to define a scoring system based on a number of clinical and epidemiological criteria of African trypanosomiasis due to Trypanosoma brucei gambiense which could be used by peripheral health services to establish a diagnosis. The survey comprised 163 cases and 326 controls. Clinical signs and symptoms were fever, headache, pruritus and skin lesions due to scratching, diarrhoea, oedema, cervical adenopathies, sleep rhythm disturbances, changes in appetite, amenorrhoea or impotence, mental confusion, neurological signs, and other minor clinical disturbances. Other criteria were a history of previous trypanosomiasis and the presence of domestic animals in the home environment. Analysis of the results showed that neither a single criterion nor a group of criteria is pathognomonic for the disease. The selected criteria do not allow discrimination of sleeping sickness patients among suspected individuals who present themselves. A scoring system is therefore of little use at the peripheral level of health services, particularly when considering the additional workload involved. The low diagnostic value of these clinical signs and symptoms and other indicators in African trypanosomiasis stresses the difficulty in developing an early warning tool for an integrated control strategy in primary health care.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1996

[Action duality of nitrogen oxide (NO) in experimental African trypanosomiasis].

Patients with human African trypanosomiasis present a major dysruption of the circadian rhythmicity of the sleep-wake cycle, which was also found in rats infected with Trypanosoma brucei brucei (T.b.b.). The alterations in the immune function and nervous system in African trypsanosomiasis led us to investigate the involvement of nitric oxide (NO), a key molecule in immune and neurophysiological mechanisms, in experimental trypanosomiasis. NO was measured in 35 Sprague Dawley rats using differential impulsional voltammetry with a carbon fiber coated with porphyrin-nickel and nafion, ex vivo in the blood and in vivo in the brain. The rats were anaesthetized with sodium chlorate. Infection was performed intraperitoneally (i.p.) with 0.2 ml of a T.b.b. cryostabilate (clone AnTat 1.1E). Blood was collected by an intracardiac puncture with immediate replacement of blood volume (1 ml) in 7 control rats and 8 rats infected since 15 days, before and after i.p. administration of L-ANA (L-arginine-p-nitro-anilide, 100 mg.kg-1, an inhibitor of NO synthase). Brain measures were done in 20 rats (8 controls, and 12 rats infected since 15 or 21 days), in the cortex (H, -0.5 mm; AP, -0.8 mm; L, 1.2 mm) and the lateral ventricle (H,-3.2 mm). In infected rats, blood NO was at 70% of control values (p < 0.001), and L-ANA suppressed the NO signal in all animals (p < 0.0001), demonstrating that the signal originated from NO. Cortical NO was higher than in the ventricle in both control (p < 0.0001) and infected rats (p < 0.001). NO was more elevated in both structures in 15-day-infected rats than in control rats (p < 0.0001), the difference being enhanced in 21-day-infected rats (p < 0.001). L-ANA suppressed the NO signal in 30 to 60 min. These data suggest that NO intervenes in the development of trypanosomiasis in different manners. It is increased in the brain, which remains unexplained, where it may be involved in blood-brain barrier permeation. Conversely, it is decreased in the blood, may be because of macrophage function impairment, which would explain why trypanosomes can multiply in the host.

Animals↗

PubMed1963

Immunity in African trypanosomiasis.

In this review of current knowledge and research on the immunological responses in African trypanosomiasis, the author deals with the non-specific constitutional resistance of man and animals to trypanosomes; the results of research on specific adaptive immunity developed during and after illness and the demonstration of protective antibody; some promising results that have been achieved in attempts at vaccination; the effect of immunity on chemotherapy; the antigenic structure of trypanosome strains; the use of various serological tests in diagnosis and the application of immunochemistry to trypanosomiasis serology.In his conclusions, he suggests that more modern techniques should be used in serological investigations to solve the problem of the difference between cyclically and mechanically transmitted strains and that of relapse strains. It is also important to determine whether relapse strains are transmitted cyclically by flies without any antigenic change. Further studies are needed on the sensitivity to chemotherapeutic drugs of trypanosomes mechanically and cyclically transmitted. Finally, the author suggests that more research be conducted on various methods of immunization with killed and with living vaccines.

Animals↗

PubMed1963

Population mobility and trypanosomiasis in Africa.

Population mobility has long been established as a feature of life in Africa south of the Sahara. Even though it appears to be a factor in the spread of sleeping-sickness there do not seem to have been serious epidemics until the latter part of the nineteenth century and the early decades of the twentieth century. Various types of population movement of the present day and their possible relevance to trypanosomiasis are discussed. Density of population and settlement patterns are also important. Some of the changes in these which are relevant to trypanosomiasis are outlined and the need for more detailed information on these and on population mobility is emphasized.

Africa↗

PubMed1963

The effects of trypanosomiasis on rural economy with special reference to the Sudan, Bechuanaland and West Africa.

Trypanosomiasis, both of humans and of livestock, is one of the most important factors restricting economic development in Africa today. The present paper outlines how this disease is limiting agricultural, veterinary and forestry development in the Sudan, Bechuanaland and West Africa.The present tsetse-fly distribution is reviewed. Glossina palpalis and G. morsitans occur in the south Sudan and G. morsitans in the Ngamiland district of Bechuanaland; G. morsitans, G. palpalis and G. tachinoides are the most important species in West Africa.These tsetse flies have altered the cattle distribution in all three regions and, in addition to causing widespread disease, have created local overstocking problems in the tsetse-free grazing areas, and have enforced nomadism on breeding herds and economic loss in slaughter cattle along the trade cattle routes in West Africa.Human trypanosomiasis is not now such an urgent problem and public health measures have led to its control in all three areas.Increased agricultural development, which can be a successful and economic method of reclaiming land from tsetse flies, must be intensified in all three areas.Forest conservation policy comes into conflict with tsetse control measures only in West Africa.Detailed tsetse-fly surveys and research, on which future plans can be firmly based, are now urgently required.

Africa↗

PubMed1991

Control of tsetse flies and trypanosomiasis: Myth or reality?

The African trypanosomiasis are among Africa's most devastating diseases. The human disease, sleeping sickness, and the animal disease, nagana, are caused by trypanosomes, protozoan parasites transmitted by tsetse flies, Glossina spp. Attempts have been made to control tsetse and trypanosomiasis for over 70 years, supported by ever-increasing amounts of foreign aid. Although progress has been made in the control of sleeping sickness, this disease still persists in many countries. Nogono excludes cattle from many of the potentially most productive areas of Africa and is a major constraint on economic development. In this paper, Robert Dransfield, Brian Williams and Robert Brightwell review the control of tsetse and trypanosomiasis in the light of recent progress in our understanding of tsetse population dynamics, with special reference to the experience gained in tsetse control on a Maasai ranch at Ngurumon in the Rift Valley of Kenya, and make suggestions for the management and funding of future control programmes in relation to rural development.

Journal Article↗

PubMed1993

Trypanosomiasis of domestic animals in China.

Trypanosomiasis caused by Trypanosoma evansi (surra) is a problem of great economic importance in livestock in China because it affects important working animals: buffaloes in the south and east, and horses and cattle in the north and west. In addition, buffaloes are an important source of meat and leather for the Chinese population. In the north and west, T. evansi is found mainly in camels, whereas in the east, the south and the southwest, it is primarily buffaloes, cattle and horses that are affected by this parasitic flagellate. Although trypanosomiasis is one of the most important parasitic diseases of domestic animals in China, little information on this disease has been published. In this article Zhao-Rong Lun, Yuang Fang, Chang-Ji Wang and Reto Brun evaluate trypanosomiasis of domestic animals in China and review epidemiological studies of the past 40 years.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2006

Haptoglobin phenotype appears to affect the pathogenesis of American trypanosomiasis.

In Latin America, 16 million-18 million people are thought to be infected with Trypanosoma cruzi, the parasite that causes American trypanosomiasis. The pathophysiology of this disease, particularly that of its chronic phase, has yet to be fully elucidated. The major function of haptoglobin, an acute-phase plasma protein found in three different phenotypes (Hp1-1, Hp2-1 and Hp2-2), is to bind to free haemoglobin and so prevent the accumulation of reactive hydroxyl radicals and renal damage. The haptoglobin phenotype present can influence the severity and progression of many diseases, including infectious ones. The aim of the present study was to see if any haptoglobin phenotype could be associated with any of the various clinical forms of American trypanosomiasis, and so explore the possibility that haptoglobin and iron metabolism have a role in the pathophysiology of this disease. The Brazilian subjects investigated were either suffering from the 'indeterminate' (N=16), chronic cardiac (N=34), chronic digestive (N=13) or chronic 'combined' (i.e. cardiac plus digestive; N=29) forms of the disease or were apparently healthy blood donors from the same region as the patients (N=197). Haptoglobin phenotypes were determined by polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis. Among the iron-related parameters investigated in the patients, only total iron-binding capacity and the serum concentration of haptoglobin differed significantly with haptoglobin phenotype. Compared with its frequency in the healthy controls, the Hp2-2 phenotype was much more frequent in the patients with any form of American trypanosomiasis, in the patients with the indeterminate form of the disease, and in the patients with the chronic combined form (P<or=0.0001 for each). It therefore appears that, in terms of the pathogenesis in those exposed to T. cruzi, possession of the 2-2 phenotype of haptoglobin may be detrimental.

Anemia↗