Fast and curious: the role of agile snails in Angiostrongylus cantonensis life cycle

Kód výsledku v IS VaVaI

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Výsledek na webu

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DOI - Digital Object Identifier

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Jazyk výsledku

angličtina

Název v původním jazyce

Fast and curious: the role of agile snails in Angiostrongylus cantonensis life cycle

Popis výsledku v původním jazyce

Angiostrongylus cantonensis, also known as the rat lungworm, is a metastrongyloid nematode with zoonotic potential. Its life cycle involves rats as definitive hosts, various species of gastropods as intermediate hosts and a range of other invertebrates may serve as paratenic hosts. Humans, dogs and other warm-blooded vertebrates can become accidental hosts by ingestion of either the intermediate host or the paratenic host containing the L3 larvae. However, the infective L3 larvae can also be shed by gastropods and contaminate water and food sources. In accidental hosts, the larvae mature in the brain, where they cause potentially life-threatening eosinophilic meningitis. This parasite was originally described in Southeast Asia, but is gradually expanding its distribution globally, including Europe. Many gastropods have been described as possible intermediate hosts, yet the role of individual species in the parasite’s life cycle has been rather understudied, although some differences can be expected. In the present study, we compared the prevalence of A. cantonensis in two gastropod species endemic to Canary Islands but differing in ecology: a snail Hemicycla bidentalis (Helicidae) and a semi-slug Insulivitrina lamarckii (Vitrinidae). Overall, 139 gastropod specimens were collected at a model locality in an endemic area of the parasite in Tenerife (Canary Islands, Spain). We screened for Angiostrongylus cantonensis DNA in the snail tissue and rat DNA in the snail feces. We detected the rat lungworm DNA in 70.4% of the fast-moving semi-slug I. lamarckii, whereas in the slower-moving snail H. bidentalis the prevalence was only 39.66%. These results suggest that agile gastropod species are able to encounter and ingest rat feces in the wild more frequently and thus increasing the chance of getting infected by A. cantonensis. Different prevalence in individual intermediate host species is an important factor in the epidemiology of the parasite and may be useful in screening for the rat lungworm presence and infection burden in the environment. The field sample collection was possible thanks to the Internal Mobility Agency at University of Veterinary Sciences Brno which funded JK’s internship at the Universidad de la Laguna. Part of the subsequent laboratory analyses was funded by the Czech Science Foundation grant 22-26136S.

Název v anglickém jazyce

Fast and curious: the role of agile snails in Angiostrongylus cantonensis life cycle

Popis výsledku anglicky

Angiostrongylus cantonensis, also known as the rat lungworm, is a metastrongyloid nematode with zoonotic potential. Its life cycle involves rats as definitive hosts, various species of gastropods as intermediate hosts and a range of other invertebrates may serve as paratenic hosts. Humans, dogs and other warm-blooded vertebrates can become accidental hosts by ingestion of either the intermediate host or the paratenic host containing the L3 larvae. However, the infective L3 larvae can also be shed by gastropods and contaminate water and food sources. In accidental hosts, the larvae mature in the brain, where they cause potentially life-threatening eosinophilic meningitis. This parasite was originally described in Southeast Asia, but is gradually expanding its distribution globally, including Europe. Many gastropods have been described as possible intermediate hosts, yet the role of individual species in the parasite’s life cycle has been rather understudied, although some differences can be expected. In the present study, we compared the prevalence of A. cantonensis in two gastropod species endemic to Canary Islands but differing in ecology: a snail Hemicycla bidentalis (Helicidae) and a semi-slug Insulivitrina lamarckii (Vitrinidae). Overall, 139 gastropod specimens were collected at a model locality in an endemic area of the parasite in Tenerife (Canary Islands, Spain). We screened for Angiostrongylus cantonensis DNA in the snail tissue and rat DNA in the snail feces. We detected the rat lungworm DNA in 70.4% of the fast-moving semi-slug I. lamarckii, whereas in the slower-moving snail H. bidentalis the prevalence was only 39.66%. These results suggest that agile gastropod species are able to encounter and ingest rat feces in the wild more frequently and thus increasing the chance of getting infected by A. cantonensis. Different prevalence in individual intermediate host species is an important factor in the epidemiology of the parasite and may be useful in screening for the rat lungworm presence and infection burden in the environment. The field sample collection was possible thanks to the Internal Mobility Agency at University of Veterinary Sciences Brno which funded JK’s internship at the Universidad de la Laguna. Part of the subsequent laboratory analyses was funded by the Czech Science Foundation grant 22-26136S.

Druh

O - Ostatní výsledky

CEP obor

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OECD FORD obor

40301 - Veterinary science

Projekt

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Návaznosti

I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace

Rok uplatnění

2024

Kód důvěrnosti údajů

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů