Endotrypanum schaudinni
| Endotrypanum schaudinni | |
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| Species: | E. schaudinni
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| Endotrypanum schaudinni | |
Endotrypanum schaudinni is a parasite found only in Hoffmann's two-toed sloth (Choloepus hoffmanni). This sloth is found throughout South America in forested areas and this parasite is found throughout the population. Hoffman’s two-toed sloth is the only host species so it is of little economic or medical importance in humans.[1] Endotrypanum schaudinni is transferred by an intermediate host of sandflies from the genus Lutzomyia.[2] The highest concentration of flagellates in these insects is found in the pylorus region of this vector which may be important to transmission to the host. E. schaudinni is an intracellular parasite which invades the red blood cells of its definitive host.[3] Little research has been done on the mechanism of action of this or the benefit of residing in the red blood cells but antigenic masking seems a possible reason. E. schaudinni is a hemoflagellate with a size of about 13.5 µm in length and 3.5 µm in diameter.[4] Another point of interest is that E. schaudinni shares many of the same gene sequences as Leishmania, and two unique gene sequences were found in 2009 for diagnostic purposes.[5] This diagnostic technique is an important factor in further studies of this parasite as identifying it but classical biochemical and ultrastructural parameters is unreliable.[6]
References
- ^ Christensen, H. A.; Herrer, A (1976). "Neotropical Sand Flies (Diptera: Psychodidae), Invertebrate Hosts of Endotrypanum Schaudinni (Kinetoplastida: Trypanosomatidae)". Journal of Medical Entomology. 13 (3): 299–303. doi:10.1093/jmedent/13.3.299. PMID 1011233.
- ^ Christensen, H. A.; Herrer, A (1976). "Neotropical Sand Flies (Diptera: Psychodidae), Invertebrate Hosts of Endotrypanum schaudinni (Kinetoplastida: Trypanosomatidae)". Journal of Medical Entomology. 13 (3): 299–303. doi:10.1093/jmedent/13.3.299. PMID 1011233.
- ^ Darling, S. T. (1914). "The Endotrypanum of Hoffman's Sloth". Journal of Medical Research. 31 (2): 195–204.1. PMC 2094460. PMID 19972198.
- ^ Darling, S. T. "The Endotrypanum of Hoffman's Sloth". Journal of Medical Research. 31: 195.
- ^ Fernandes, O; Degrave, W; Campbell, D (1993). "The mini-exon gene: a molecular marker for Endotrypanum schaudinni". Parasitology. 107 (3): 219–224. doi:10.1017/s003118200007918x. PMID 8233584. S2CID 37869782.
- ^ Croft, S; Chance, M; Gardener, P (1980). "Ultrastructural and biochemical characterization of stocks of Endotrypanum". Annals of Tropical Medicine & Parasitology. 74 (6): 585–589. doi:10.1080/00034983.1980.11687391. PMID 7458462.