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Akinola O, Ategbero E, Amusan AI, Gbotosho GO. Comparative efficacy of sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine and dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine against malaria infection during late-stage pregnancy in mice. Exp Parasitol 2023; 248:108500. [PMID: 36893971 DOI: 10.1016/j.exppara.2023.108500] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2022] [Revised: 03/06/2023] [Accepted: 03/06/2023] [Indexed: 03/09/2023]
Abstract
The introduction of artemisinin combination therapies (ACTs) against malaria infections opened up a window of possibilities to combat malaria in pregnancy. However, the usefulness of ACTs in all stages of pregnancy must be critically assessed. This study was designed to evaluate dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine (DHAP) as a suitable alternative to sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) in the treatment of malaria during third-trimester pregnancy in mice. Experimental animals were inoculated with a parasitic dose of 1x106Plasmodium berghei (ANKA strain) infected erythrocytes and randomly allocated into treatment groups. The animals received standard doses of chloroquine alone (CQ)[10 mg/kg], SP [25 mg/kg] and [1.25 mg/kg] and DHAP [4 mg/kg] and [18 mg/kg] combinations. Maternal and pupil survival, litter sizes, pup weight and still-births were recorded, while the effect of the drug combinations on parasite suppression, recrudescence and parasite clearance time were evaluated. The day 4 chemo-suppression of parasitemia by DHAP in infected animals was comparable to SP, and CQ treatment (P > 0.05). The mean recrudescence time was significantly delayed (P = 0.031) in the DHAP treatment group compared to the CQ treatment group, while, there was no recrudescence in animals treated with SP. The birth rate in the SP group was significantly higher than in the DHAP group (P < 0.05). There was 100% maternal and pup survival in both combination treatments comparable with the uninfected gravid controls. The overall parasitological activity of SP against Plasmodium berghei in late-stage pregnancy appeared better than DHAP. In addition, SP treatment resulted in better birth outcomes assessed compared to DHAP treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Olugbenga Akinola
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria; Malaria Research Laboratories, Institute for Advanced Medical Research and Training, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria.
| | - Elizabeth Ategbero
- Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria.
| | - Abiodun I Amusan
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria; Malaria Research Laboratories, Institute for Advanced Medical Research and Training, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria.
| | - Grace O Gbotosho
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria; Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria; Malaria Research Laboratories, Institute for Advanced Medical Research and Training, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria.
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Toscani Field J, Weinberg J, Bensch S, Matta NE, Valkiūnas G, Sehgal RNM. Delineation of the Genera Haemoproteus and Plasmodium Using RNA-Seq and Multi-gene Phylogenetics. J Mol Evol 2018; 86:646-654. [PMID: 30426144 DOI: 10.1007/s00239-018-9875-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/05/2018] [Accepted: 11/01/2018] [Indexed: 01/24/2023]
Abstract
Members of the order Haemosporida are protist parasites that infect mammals, reptiles and birds. This group includes the causal agents of malaria, Plasmodium parasites, the genera Leucocytozoon and Fallisia, as well as the species rich genus Haemoproteus with its two subgenera Haemoproteus and Parahaemoproteus. Some species of Haemoproteus cause severe disease in avian hosts, and these parasites display high levels of diversity worldwide. This diversity emphasizes the need for accurate evolutionary information. Most molecular studies of wildlife haemosporidians use a bar coding approach by sequencing a fragment of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene. This method is efficient at differentiating parasite lineages but insufficient for accurate phylogenetic inferences in highly diverse taxa such as haemosporidians. Recent studies have utilized multiple mitochondrial genes (cyt b, cox1 and cox3), sometimes combined with a few apicoplast and nuclear genes. These studies have been highly successful with one notable exception: the evolutionary relationships of the genus Haemoproteus remain unresolved. Here we describe the transcriptome of Haemoproteus columbae and investigate its phylogenetic position recovered from a multi-gene dataset (600 genes). This genomic approach restricts the taxon sampling to 18 species of apicomplexan parasites. We employed Bayesian inference and maximum likelihood methods of phylogenetic analyses and found H. columbae and a representative from the subgenus Parahaemoproteus to be sister taxa. This result strengthens the hypothesis of genus Haemoproteus being monophyletic; however, resolving this question will require sequences of orthologs from, in particular, representatives of Leucocytozoon species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jasper Toscani Field
- Department of Biology, San Francisco State University, 1700 Holloway Ave, San Francisco, CA, 94132, USA.
| | - Josh Weinberg
- Department of Biology, San Francisco State University, 1700 Holloway Ave, San Francisco, CA, 94132, USA
| | - Staffan Bensch
- Department of Biology, Lund University, Ecology Building, 223 62, Lund, Sweden
| | - Nubia E Matta
- Sede Bogotá, Facultad de Ciencias, Departamento de Biología, Grupo de Investigación Caracterización genética e inmunología, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Carrera 30 No. 45-03, Bogotá, 111321, Colombia
| | | | - Ravinder N M Sehgal
- Department of Biology, San Francisco State University, 1700 Holloway Ave, San Francisco, CA, 94132, USA
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Boundenga L, Perkins SL, Ollomo B, Rougeron V, Leroy EM, Renaud F, Prugnolle F. Haemosporidian Parasites of Reptiles and Birds from Gabon, Central Africa. J Parasitol 2017; 103:330-337. [PMID: 28509658 DOI: 10.1645/16-118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Haemosporidian parasites are protozoans that infect many different vertebrate hosts. Re-examination of the diversity of haemosporidian parasites, using molecular tools, has generally led to rearrangements of traditional classifications. In this study, we explored the diversity of haemosporidian parasites infecting some species of reptile and birds living in the forests of Gabon, Central Africa, by analyzing a collection of 128 samples of reptiles and birds. We found that samples from 2 tortoise species (Pelusios castaneus and Kinixys erosa) and 3 bird species (Turtur afer, Ceratogymna atrata, and Agelastes niger) were infected by Haemocystidium spp. and Parahaemoproteus spp., respectively. From an ecological point of view, these lineages of parasites do not show host specificity because we have found them in several host species (2 tortoise and 3 bird species) that come from different areas of Gabon forest which are infected with these parasites. Also, our phylogenetic analyses revealed that the obtained lineages are related to isolates from other continents found in the same groups of vertebrates. Thus, our results show that haemosporidian parasites are also infecting central African vertebrates and that new lineages of these parasites are circulating in wild animals of the Gabon forest.
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Affiliation(s)
- Larson Boundenga
- Centre International de Recherche de Médicales de Franceville (CIRMF), BP: 769 Franceville, Gabon
| | - Susan L Perkins
- Centre International de Recherche de Médicales de Franceville (CIRMF), BP: 769 Franceville, Gabon
| | - Benjamin Ollomo
- Centre International de Recherche de Médicales de Franceville (CIRMF), BP: 769 Franceville, Gabon
| | - Virginie Rougeron
- Centre International de Recherche de Médicales de Franceville (CIRMF), BP: 769 Franceville, Gabon
| | - Eric M Leroy
- Centre International de Recherche de Médicales de Franceville (CIRMF), BP: 769 Franceville, Gabon
| | - François Renaud
- Centre International de Recherche de Médicales de Franceville (CIRMF), BP: 769 Franceville, Gabon
| | - Franck Prugnolle
- Centre International de Recherche de Médicales de Franceville (CIRMF), BP: 769 Franceville, Gabon
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Kalbe M, Eizaguirre C, Scharsack JP, Jakobsen PJ. Reciprocal cross infection of sticklebacks with the diphyllobothriidean cestode Schistocephalus solidus reveals consistent population differences in parasite growth and host resistance. Parasit Vectors 2016; 9:130. [PMID: 26951744 PMCID: PMC4782366 DOI: 10.1186/s13071-016-1419-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2015] [Accepted: 03/02/2016] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Background In host-parasite evolutionary arms races, parasites are generally expected to adapt more rapidly, due to their large population sizes and short generation times. There exist systems, though, where parasites cannot outpace their hosts because of similar generation times in both antagonists. In those cases concomitant adaptation is expected. Methods We tested this hypothesis in the three-spined stickleback-Schistocephalus solidus tapeworm system, where generation times are comparable in both organisms. We chose two populations of sticklebacks which differ prominently in the prevalence of S. solidus and consequently in its level of selective pressure. We performed a full factorial common garden experiment. Particularly, Norwegian (NO) and German (DE) sticklebacks, as well as hybrids between both stickleback populations and in both parental combinations, were exposed each to a single S. solidus originating from the same two host populations. Results We found the infection phenotype to depend on the host population, the parasite population, but not their interaction. NO-parasites showed higher infectivity than DE-parasites, with NO-sticklebacks also being more resistant to DE-parasites than to the sympatric NO-parasite. Reciprocally, DE-hosts were more susceptible to the allopatric NO-parasite while DE-parasites grew less than NO-parasites in all stickleback groups. Despite this asymmetry, the ratio of worm to host weight, an indicator of parasite virulence, was identical in both sympatric combinations, suggesting an optimal virulence as a common outcome of parallel coevolved systems. In hybrid sticklebacks, intermediate infection rates and growth of S. solidus from either origin suggests a simple genetic basis of resistance. However, comparison of infection phenotypes in NO-maternal and DE-maternal hybrid sticklebacks indicates local adaptation to the sympatric counterpart in both the host and the parasite. Conclusions Host-parasite systems with similar generation time show evidence for concomitant reciprocal adaptation resulting in parasite optimal virulence and host parasite specific resistance. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13071-016-1419-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martin Kalbe
- Department of Evolutionary Ecology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology, August-Thienemann-Str. 2, 24306, Plön, Germany.
| | - Christophe Eizaguirre
- Department of Evolutionary Ecology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology, August-Thienemann-Str. 2, 24306, Plön, Germany. .,School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, Mile End Road, London, E1 4NS, UK.
| | - Jörn P Scharsack
- Department of Evolutionary Ecology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology, August-Thienemann-Str. 2, 24306, Plön, Germany. .,Department of Animal Evolutionary Ecology, Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity, University of Münster, Hüfferstr. 1, 48149, Münster, Germany.
| | - Per J Jakobsen
- Department of Evolutionary Ecology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology, August-Thienemann-Str. 2, 24306, Plön, Germany. .,Institute for Biology, University of Bergen, Thor Møhlensgt. 55, 5020, Bergen, Norway.
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Borner J, Pick C, Thiede J, Kolawole OM, Kingsley MT, Schulze J, Cottontail VM, Wellinghausen N, Schmidt-Chanasit J, Bruchhaus I, Burmester T. Phylogeny of haemosporidian blood parasites revealed by a multi-gene approach. Mol Phylogenet Evol 2015; 94:221-31. [PMID: 26364971 DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2015.09.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 67] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2015] [Revised: 08/31/2015] [Accepted: 09/03/2015] [Indexed: 11/13/2022]
Abstract
The apicomplexan order Haemosporida is a clade of unicellular blood parasites that infect a variety of reptilian, avian and mammalian hosts. Among them are the agents of human malaria, parasites of the genus Plasmodium, which pose a major threat to human health. Illuminating the evolutionary history of Haemosporida may help us in understanding their enormous biological diversity, as well as tracing the multiple host switches and associated acquisitions of novel life-history traits. However, the deep-level phylogenetic relationships among major haemosporidian clades have remained enigmatic because the datasets employed in phylogenetic analyses were severely limited in either gene coverage or taxon sampling. Using a PCR-based approach that employs a novel set of primers, we sequenced fragments of 21 nuclear genes from seven haemosporidian parasites of the genera Leucocytozoon, Haemoproteus, Parahaemoproteus, Polychromophilus and Plasmodium. After addition of genomic data from 25 apicomplexan species, the unreduced alignment comprised 20,580 bp from 32 species. Phylogenetic analyses were performed based on nucleotide, codon and amino acid data employing Bayesian inference, maximum likelihood and maximum parsimony. All analyses resulted in highly congruent topologies. We found consistent support for a basal position of Leucocytozoon within Haemosporida. In contrast to all previous studies, we recovered a sister group relationship between the genera Polychromophilus and Plasmodium. Within Plasmodium, the sauropsid and mammal-infecting lineages were recovered as sister clades. Support for these relationships was high in nearly all trees, revealing a novel phylogeny of Haemosporida, which is robust to the choice of the outgroup and the method of tree inference.
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Affiliation(s)
- Janus Borner
- Institute of Zoology and Zoological Museum, University of Hamburg, Martin-Luther-King-Platz 3, D-20146 Hamburg, Germany
| | - Christian Pick
- Institute of Zoology and Zoological Museum, University of Hamburg, Martin-Luther-King-Platz 3, D-20146 Hamburg, Germany
| | - Jenny Thiede
- Institute of Zoology and Zoological Museum, University of Hamburg, Martin-Luther-King-Platz 3, D-20146 Hamburg, Germany
| | - Olatunji Matthew Kolawole
- Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Ilorin, PMB 1515, Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria
| | - Manchang Tanyi Kingsley
- Institute of Agricultural Research for Development, Veterinary Research Laboratory, Wakwa Regional Center, PO Box␣65, Ngaoundere, Cameroon
| | - Jana Schulze
- Institute of Zoology and Zoological Museum, University of Hamburg, Martin-Luther-King-Platz 3, D-20146 Hamburg, Germany
| | - Veronika M Cottontail
- Institute of Experimental Ecology, University of Ulm, Albert-Einstein Allee 11, D-89069 Ulm, Germany
| | - Nele Wellinghausen
- Gaertner & Colleagues Laboratory, Elisabethenstr. 11, D-88212 Ravensburg, Germany
| | - Jonas Schmidt-Chanasit
- Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, Bernhard-Nocht-Str. 74, D-20359 Hamburg, Germany
| | - Iris Bruchhaus
- Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, Bernhard-Nocht-Str. 74, D-20359 Hamburg, Germany
| | - Thorsten Burmester
- Institute of Zoology and Zoological Museum, University of Hamburg, Martin-Luther-King-Platz 3, D-20146 Hamburg, Germany.
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Larcombe S, Bichet C, Cornet S, Faivre B, Sorci G. Food availability and competition do not modulate the costs of Plasmodium infection in dominant male canaries. Exp Parasitol 2013; 135:708-14. [PMID: 24184773 DOI: 10.1016/j.exppara.2013.10.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2013] [Revised: 09/24/2013] [Accepted: 10/23/2013] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Understanding the different factors that may influence parasite virulence is of fundamental interest to ecologists and evolutionary biologists. It has recently been demonstrated that parasite virulence may occur partly through manipulation of host competitive ability. Differences in competitive ability associated with the social status (dominant or subordinate) of a host may determine the extent of this competition-mediated parasite virulence. We proposed that differences between subordinate and dominant birds in the physiological costs of infection may change depending on the level of competition in social groups. We observed flocks of domestic canaries to determine dominant or subordinate birds, and modified competition by providing restricted (high competition) or ad libitum food (low competition). Entire flocks were then infected with either the avian malaria parasite, Plasmodium relictum or a control. Contrary to our predictions we found that the level of competition had no effect on the outcome of infection for dominant or subordinate birds. We found that dominant birds appeared to suffer greater infection mediated morbidity in both dietary treatments, with a higher and more sustained reduction in haematocrit, and higher parasitaemia, than subordinates. Our results show that dominance status in birds can certainly alter parasite virulence, though the links between food availability, competition, nutrition and virulence are likely to be complex and multifaceted.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephen Larcombe
- Edward Grey Institute, Dept. of Zoology, University of Oxford, OX1 3PS, United Kingdom.
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Social interactions modulate the virulence of avian malaria infection. Int J Parasitol 2013; 43:861-7. [PMID: 23792297 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpara.2013.05.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2013] [Revised: 05/16/2013] [Accepted: 05/20/2013] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Abstract
There is an increasing understanding of the context-dependent nature of parasite virulence. Variation in parasite virulence can occur when infected individuals compete with conspecifics that vary in infection status; virulence may be higher when competing with uninfected competitors. In vertebrates with social hierarchies, we propose that these competition-mediated costs of infection may also vary with social status. Dominant individuals have greater competitive ability than competing subordinates, and consequently may pay a lower prevalence-mediated cost of infection. In this study we investigated whether costs of malarial infection were affected by the occurrence of the parasite in competitors and social status in domestic canaries (Serinus canaria). We predicted that infected subordinates competing with non-infected dominants would pay higher costs than infected subordinates competing with infected dominants. We also predicted that these occurrence-mediated costs of infection would be ameliorated in infected dominant birds. We found that social status and the occurrence of parasites in competitors significantly interacted to change haematocrit in infected birds. Namely, subordinate and dominant infected birds differed in haematocrit depending on the infection status of their competitors. However, in contrast to our prediction, dominants fared better with infected subordinates, whereas subordinates fared better with uninfected dominants. Moreover, we found additional effects of parasite occurrence on mortality in canaries. Ultimately, we provide evidence for costs of parasitism mediated by social rank and the occurrence of parasites in competitors in a vertebrate species. This has important implications for our understanding of the evolutionary processes that shape parasite virulence and group living.
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Abstract
OBJECTIVE The evolutionary history of human malaria parasites (genus Plasmodium) has long been a subject of speculation and controversy. The complete genome sequences of the two most widespread human malaria parasites, P. falciparum and P. vivax, and of the monkey parasite P. knowlesi are now available, together with the draft genomes of the chimpanzee parasite P. reichenowi, three rodent parasites, P. yoelii yoelli, P. berghei and P. chabaudi chabaudi, and one avian parasite, P. gallinaceum. METHODS We present here an analysis of 45 orthologous gene sequences across the eight species that resolves the relationships of major Plasmodium lineages, and provides the first comprehensive dating of the age of those groups. RESULTS Our analyses support the hypothesis that the last common ancestor of P. falciparum and the chimpanzee parasite P. reichenowi occurred around the time of the human-chimpanzee divergence. P. falciparum infections of African apes are most likely derived from humans and not the other way around. On the other hand, P. vivax, split from the monkey parasite P. knowlesi in the much more distant past, during the time that encompasses the separation of the Great Apes and Old World Monkeys. CONCLUSION The results support an ancient association between malaria parasites and their primate hosts, including humans.
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de Roode JC, Altizer S. Host-parasite genetic interactions and virulence-transmission relationships in natural populations of monarch butterflies. Evolution 2009; 64:502-14. [PMID: 19796153 DOI: 10.1111/j.1558-5646.2009.00845.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 74] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Evolutionary models predict that parasite virulence (parasite-induced host mortality) can evolve as a consequence of natural selection operating on between-host parasite transmission. Two major assumptions are that virulence and transmission are genetically related and that the relative virulence and transmission of parasite genotypes remain similar across host genotypes. We conducted a cross-infection experiment using monarch butterflies and their protozoan parasites from two populations in eastern and western North America. We tested each of 10 host family lines against each of 18 parasite genotypes and measured virulence (host life span) and parasite transmission potential (spore load). Consistent with virulence evolution theory, we found a positive relationship between virulence and transmission across parasite genotypes. However, the absolute values of virulence and transmission differed among host family lines, as did the rank order of parasite clones along the virulence-transmission relationship. Population-level analyses showed that parasites from western North America caused higher infection levels and virulence, but there was no evidence of local adaptation of parasites on sympatric hosts. Collectively, our results suggest that host genotypes can affect the strength and direction of selection on virulence in natural populations, and that predicting virulence evolution may require building genotype-specific interactions into simpler trade-off models.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jacobus C de Roode
- Department of Biology, Emory University, 1510 Clifton Road, Atlanta, Georgia 30322, USA
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