{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,25]],"date-time":"2026-06-25T06:34:13Z","timestamp":1782369253046,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":21,"publisher":"Springer Science and Business Media LLC","issue":"1","content-domain":{"domain":["link.springer.com"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Parasites Vectors"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2012,12]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n          <jats:sec>\n            <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n            <jats:p>The opossum <jats:italic>Didelphis<\/jats:italic> have been considered as natural hosts of <jats:italic>Leishmania<\/jats:italic> parasites in the New World, suggesting an important role in the epidemiology of Visceral Leishmaniasis (VL). Among six extant species that belong to the genus <jats:italic>Didelphis<\/jats:italic>, only two (<jats:italic>D. marsupialis<\/jats:italic> and <jats:italic>D. albiventris<\/jats:italic>), have been mentioned as natural hosts of <jats:italic>Leishmania infantum<\/jats:italic> in Brazil and Colombia. In the present paper, it is reported for the first time, the observation of intracellular parasites (amastigotes) in tissues of <jats:italic>Didelphis aurita<\/jats:italic> naturally infected with <jats:italic>Leishmania infantum<\/jats:italic> in Brazil. We also discuss some aspects associated to the relationship between <jats:italic>L. infantum<\/jats:italic> and the geographical distribution of some species of the genus <jats:italic>Didelphis<\/jats:italic>.<\/jats:p>\n          <\/jats:sec>\n          <jats:sec>\n            <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n            <jats:p>The opossums studied were caught by wire traps (Tomahawk) in Barra de Guaratiba, a peri-urban area in Rio de Janeiro. The opossums were killed with an overdose of Thiopental sodium.At necropsy, macroscopic alterations were examined and samples from liver, spleen, lymph nodes, ear, abdominal skin, scent glands and bone marrow were collected for parasitological and molecular diagnoses.<\/jats:p>\n          <\/jats:sec>\n          <jats:sec>\n            <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n            <jats:p>Forty-eight opossums were captured in an AVL endemic region, 30 being caught in a mangrove area and eighteen animals in a forest area near to some residential-yards. Among the thirty opossums trapped in the mangrove area, all of them were negative by both imprint and sera samples assayed on Dipstick Tests, that is a test based on a combination of protein-A colloidal gold conjugate and rk39 <jats:italic>Leishmania<\/jats:italic> antigen to detect anti-<jats:italic>Leishmania<\/jats:italic> antibody in serum or plasma. At the macroscopic examination one out of eighteen opossums, caught close to the forest, presented alterations compatible with spleen hypertrophy and three were positive by Dipstick Tests (16.6%) and presented amastigotes in the spleen and in one of them, the parasites were also observed in a submandibular lymph node. <jats:italic>Leishmania infantum<\/jats:italic> infections were confirmed through dot blot hybridization using a <jats:italic>L. infantum<\/jats:italic>-specific biotinylated probe<jats:italic>.<\/jats:italic>\n            <\/jats:p>\n          <\/jats:sec>\n          <jats:sec>\n            <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n            <jats:p>In the present paper we present the first report of amastigotes in the tissues of <jats:italic>Didelphis aurita<\/jats:italic> (Mammalia: Marsupialia) naturally infected with <jats:italic>Leishmania infantum<\/jats:italic>. We also attempt to claim the particular role of some opossum species as hosts of <jats:italic>Leishmania infantum<\/jats:italic>, contributing at least in part on the description of potential sylvatic reservoirs.<\/jats:p>\n          <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1186\/1756-3305-5-111","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2012,6,14]],"date-time":"2012-06-14T10:43:09Z","timestamp":1339670589000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/springer_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":22,"title":["Natural infection of Didelphis aurita (Mammalia: Marsupialia) with Leishmania infantum in Brazil"],"prefix":"10.1186","volume":"5","author":[{"given":"Jo\u00e3o Carlos Araujo","family":"Carreira","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Alba Val\u00e9ria Machado","family":"da Silva","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Daniela","family":"de Pita Pereira","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Reginaldo Pe\u00e7anha","family":"Brazil","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"297","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2012,6,7]]},"reference":[{"key":"590_CR1","first-page":"61","volume":"48","author":"LM Deane","year":"1955","unstructured":"Deane LM, Deane MP: Observa\u00e7\u00f5es preliminares sobre a import\u00e2ncia comparativa do homem, do c\u00e3o e da raposa Lycalopex vetulus como reservat\u00f3rios da L. donovani em \u00e1rea end\u00eamica de calazar no Cear\u00e1. 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