Identificação e caracterização das espécies de flebotomíneos (Diptera: Psychodidae), infectadas por Leishmania spp., na localidade Praia das Pombas, Viamão, Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil

Abstract

The Leishmaniasis is a complex of diseases caused by protozoa of the genus Leishmania spp., observed in the promastigote forms (flagellated, extracellular) in invertebrate hosts, and amastigote forms (no scourge, intracellular required) in vertebrates. Nowadays, these diseases are distributed in 88 countries in the Americas, Africa, India, Asia and the Mediterranean. According to the World Health Organization, 500.000 and 1.5 million new cases, respectively of Visceral Leishmaniasis and Cutaneous Leishmaniasis occur annually, and considered one of the infectious and parasitic diseases of major global impact. Transmitted at the moment the blood feeding by the female sandflies (Diptera: Psychodidae), Leishmaniasis is the shown to expand in all regions of Brazil, placing the country among the five most affected in the world. In Brazil, many studies have been carried out to elucidate the species responsible for the transmission of Leishmania spp., and consequently, prescribe important areas of to public health. However, these approaches are uncommon in the Rio Grande do Sul state. This study aimed to investigate the sandfly species occurring in a rural area in Itapuã district, city of Viamão, metropolitan region of Porto Alegre, and verify the presence of DNA of Leishmania spp. in captured females. The collections were carried out with CDC light traps in intradomicile, peridomicile and forest remnants to verify possible population or species differences among the sites. The captures occurred for three consecutive nights, from May 2013 to April 2014. The sandflies were identified and females were grouped in pools of five animals each, according to the species. A total of 516 phlebotomines were captured, pertaining belonging to the Lutzomyia neivai (37.2%), Lutzomyia migonei (34.5%), Lutzomyia fischeri (21.7%), and Lutzomyia lanei (6.5%). For DNA extraction, 245 females were used. Fragments of 120 bp of conserved region of Leishmania kinetoplast were amplified from samples of Lutzomyia neivai, L. fischeri and L. migonei.