Outcome of oral infection in mice inoculated with Trypanosoma cruzi IV of the Western Brazilian Amazon

•Infection by oral route exhibited a more intense infection than intraperitoneal route.•Trypanosoma cruzi IV causes high parasitemia when inoculated orally.•Real-time PCR was more sensitive than conventional PCR.•Higher parasite load in the different tissues was observed in mice orally infected.

A new epidemiological view of American trypanosomiasis or Chagas disease has been formulated in recent decades. Oral transmission of the etiological agent of Chagas disease, Trypanosoma cruzi, has been the most common form of transmission. The T. cruzi discrete typing units TcI and TcIV have been involved in tens outbreaks of acute cases of Chagas disease in the Brazilian Amazon region. We investigated the intensity of infection in mice that were orally inoculated (OR group) with four strains of TcIV that were isolated from two outbreaks of acute Chagas disease that was orally acquired in the state of Amazonas, Brazil. We compared the OR group with mice that were intraperitoneally inoculated (IP group). Blood samples were analyzed by fresh blood examination, hemoculture, and conventional and qualitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Samples of different tissues were analyzed by quantitative real-time PCR. The OR group exhibited a higher maximum peak of parasitemia, greater rates of positivity, and higher parasite loads in different tissues during acute infection compared with the IP group, indicating a greater intensity of orally acquired infection. Mice that were orally inoculated with TcIV strains that were obtained from two outbreaks of orally acquired Chagas disease in Amazonas, Brazil, exhibited a more intense course of infection compared with intraperitoneally inoculated mice, reflected by higher levels of parasitemia and parasite loads.

Graphical abstractMice orally inoculated with T. cruzi IV strains, exhibited more intense infection compared with intraperitoneally inoculated mice, reflected by higher parasitemia levels and parasite loads.Download high-res image (116KB)Download full-size image