Dados do Trabalho

Título

PLASMODIUM INFECTION AND ITS ASSOCIATION WITH BIOCHEMICAL AND HEMATOLOGICAL PARAMETERS IN FREE-LIVING ALOUATTA GUARIBA CLAMITANS (CABRERA, 1940) (PRIMATES: ATELIDAE) IN SOUTHERN BRAZIL

Resumo

Alouatta is the Neotropical primate genus with the highest number of species naturally infected by Plasmodium spp. The species with most records of infection is the Southern brown howler monkey, Alouatta guariba clamitans, which is threatened with extinction. Non-human primates are believed to be human malaria reservoirs in forest regions, but little is known about the implications of this infection on the health and conservation of these animals. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of Plasmodium spp. infection in free-living howler monkeys in an Atlantic Forest fragment and to associate the infection with hematological and biochemical alterations. The animals were captured with anesthetic darts and the collected blood was used for DNA extraction, hematological and biochemical tests. The molecular diagnosis of the infection was performed by Nested-PCR (18S SSU rRNA or coxI). Hematological and biochemical parameters were compared using the Student's t-test or Mann-Whitney U test. We captured 40 animals, from which seven were captured twice, and one time three times. The estimated prevalence of Plasmodium infection was 70% (28/40), the highest reported for neotropical primates. Infected howler monkeys presented higher mean values of lymphocytes (p=0.010), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) (p=0.003), and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) (p=0.037). The infected females presented high mean values of lymphocytes (p=0.014) and high ALT (p=0.003) compared to uninfected females; and infected males presented high ALT (p=0.046) and reduced albumin values (p=0.049) compared to uninfected males. Animals with mixed infection displayed higher mean of ALT values (p=0.019), and lower total protein levels (p=0.023). Therefore, malarial infection in howler monkeys causes hematological/biochemical alterations which suggest hepatic commitment. Further studies are necessary to evaluate these alterations for the conservation of this species of non-human primate. Moreover, infection must be monitored, particularly during translocations, for the eco-epidemiological surveillance of malaria in the Atlantic Forest.

Financiamento

Coordenação para o aperfeiçoamento de pessoal de nível superior (CAPES), Fundação de amparo a pesquisa do estado de Minas Gerais (Fapemig) (Grant number CBB-APQ-02620-15), Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) (Grant numbers: 407873/2018-0, 457274/2014-0 and 310477 / 2017-4), Projeto Inova - Fundação Oswaldo Cruz.

Palavras-chave

Malaria; Endangered Species; Primate Diseases