Biochemical and Genotyping Analyses of Camels (Camelus Dromedaries) Trypanosomiasis in North Africa

Overview

Journal Sci Rep

Specialty Science

Date 2023 May 3

PMID 37137920

Authors

Ahmed M Darwish

Abdoallah Sharaf

Semir Bechir Suheil Gaouar

Neama I Ali

Tamer H Abd El-Aziz

Asmaa M Abushady

Zoubeyda Kaouadji

Othman E Othman

Miroslav Obornik

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Camels are considered an important food source in North Africa. Trypanosomiasis in camels is a life-threatening disease that causes severe economic losses in milk and meat production. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine the trypanosome genotypes in the North African region. Trypanosome infection rates were determined by microscopic examination of blood smears and polymerase chain reaction (PCR). In addition, total antioxidant capacity (TAC), lipid peroxides (MDA), reduced glutathione (GSH), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) were determined in erythrocyte lysate. Furthermore, 18S amplicon sequencing was used to barcode and characterizes the genetic diversity of trypanosome genotypes in camel blood. In addition to Trypanosoma, Babesia and Thelieria were also detected in the blood samples. PCR showed that the trypanosome infection rate was higher in Algerian samples (25.7%) than in Egyptian samples (7.2%). Parameters such as MDA, GSH, SOD and CAT had significantly increased in camels infected with trypanosomes compared to uninfected control animals, while TAC level was not significantly changed. The results of relative amplicon abundance showed that the range of trypanosome infection was higher in Egypt than in Algeria. Moreover, phylogenetic analysis showed that the Trypanosoma sequences of Egyptian and Algerian camels are related to Trypanosoma evansi. Unexpectedly, diversity within T. evansi was higher in Egyptian camels than in Algerian camels. We present here the first molecular report providing a picture of trypanosomiasis in camels, covering wide geographical areas in Egypt and Algeria.

Citing Articles

Impact of trypanosomiasis on male camel infertility.

Abdel-Hakeem S, Megahed G, Al-Hakami A, Tolba M, Karar Y Front Vet Sci. 2025; 11:1506532.

PMID: 39885842 PMC: 11780594. DOI: 10.3389/fvets.2024.1506532.

References

Verloo D, Magnus E, Buscher P . General expression of RoTat 1.2 variable antigen type in Trypanosoma evansi isolates from different origin. Vet Parasitol. 2001; 97(3):183-9. DOI: 10.1016/s0304-4017(01)00412-5. View

Cuypers B, Van den Broeck F, Van Reet N, Meehan C, Cauchard J, Wilkes J . Genome-Wide SNP Analysis Reveals Distinct Origins of Trypanosoma evansi and Trypanosoma equiperdum. Genome Biol Evol. 2017; 9(8):1990-1997. PMC: 5566637. DOI: 10.1093/gbe/evx102. View

Gibson W, Nemetschke L, Ndungu J . Conserved sequence of the TgsGP gene in Group 1 Trypanosoma brucei gambiense. Infect Genet Evol. 2010; 10(4):453-8. DOI: 10.1016/j.meegid.2010.03.005. View

Wolkmer P, da Silva A, Traesel C, Paim F, Cargnelutti J, Pagnoncelli M . Lipid peroxidation associated with anemia in rats experimentally infected with Trypanosoma evansi. Vet Parasitol. 2009; 165(1-2):41-6. DOI: 10.1016/j.vetpar.2009.06.032. View

Minh B, Schmidt H, Chernomor O, Schrempf D, Woodhams M, von Haeseler A . IQ-TREE 2: New Models and Efficient Methods for Phylogenetic Inference in the Genomic Era. Mol Biol Evol. 2020; 37(5):1530-1534. PMC: 7182206. DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msaa015. View

Quail M, Smith M, Coupland P, Otto T, Harris S, Connor T . A tale of three next generation sequencing platforms: comparison of Ion Torrent, Pacific Biosciences and Illumina MiSeq sequencers. BMC Genomics. 2012; 13:341. PMC: 3431227. DOI: 10.1186/1471-2164-13-341. View

van Dijk E, Auger H, Jaszczyszyn Y, Thermes C . Ten years of next-generation sequencing technology. Trends Genet. 2014; 30(9):418-26. DOI: 10.1016/j.tig.2014.07.001. View

Lukes J, Kachale A, Votypka J, Butenko A, Field M . African trypanosome strategies for conquering new hosts and territories: the end of monophyly?. Trends Parasitol. 2022; 38(9):724-736. DOI: 10.1016/j.pt.2022.05.011. View

Gaunt M, Yeo M, Frame I, Stothard J, Carrasco H, Taylor M . Mechanism of genetic exchange in American trypanosomes. Nature. 2003; 421(6926):936-9. DOI: 10.1038/nature01438. View

10.

Ranjithkumar M, Kamili N, Saxena A, Dan A, Dey S, Raut S . Disturbance of oxidant/antioxidant equilibrium in horses naturally infected with Trypanosoma evansi. Vet Parasitol. 2011; 180(3-4):349-53. DOI: 10.1016/j.vetpar.2011.03.029. View

11.

Lai D, Hashimi H, Lun Z, Ayala F, Lukes J . Adaptations of Trypanosoma brucei to gradual loss of kinetoplast DNA: Trypanosoma equiperdum and Trypanosoma evansi are petite mutants of T. brucei. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2008; 105(6):1999-2004. PMC: 2538871. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0711799105. View

12.

Paparini A, Jackson B, Ward S, Young S, Ryan U . Multiple Cryptosporidium genotypes detected in wild black rats (Rattus rattus) from northern Australia. Exp Parasitol. 2012; 131(4):404-12. DOI: 10.1016/j.exppara.2012.05.009. View

13.

Kuczynski J, Costello E, Nemergut D, Zaneveld J, Lauber C, Knights D . Direct sequencing of the human microbiome readily reveals community differences. Genome Biol. 2010; 11(5):210. PMC: 2898070. DOI: 10.1186/gb-2010-11-5-210. View

14.

Thompson C, Thompson R . Trypanosomes of Australian Mammals: Knowledge Gaps Regarding Transmission and Biosecurity. Trends Parasitol. 2015; 31(11):553-562. DOI: 10.1016/j.pt.2015.06.011. View

15.

Cimen M . Free radical metabolism in human erythrocytes. Clin Chim Acta. 2008; 390(1-2):1-11. DOI: 10.1016/j.cca.2007.12.025. View

16.

Carnes J, Anupama A, Balmer O, Jackson A, Lewis M, Brown R . Genome and phylogenetic analyses of Trypanosoma evansi reveal extensive similarity to T. brucei and multiple independent origins for dyskinetoplasty. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2015; 9(1):e3404. PMC: 4288722. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0003404. View

17.

Welburn S, Fevre E, Coleman P, Odiit M, Maudlin I . Sleeping sickness: a tale of two diseases. Trends Parasitol. 2001; 17(1):19-24. DOI: 10.1016/s1471-4922(00)01839-0. View

18.

Fantin Y, Neverov A, Favorov A, Alvarez-Figueroa M, Braslavskaya S, Gordukova M . Base-calling algorithm with vocabulary (BCV) method for analyzing population sequencing chromatograms. PLoS One. 2013; 8(1):e54835. PMC: 3557274. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0054835. View

19.

Ellman G . Tissue sulfhydryl groups. Arch Biochem Biophys. 1959; 82(1):70-7. DOI: 10.1016/0003-9861(59)90090-6. View

20.

Katoh K, Standley D . MAFFT multiple sequence alignment software version 7: improvements in performance and usability. Mol Biol Evol. 2013; 30(4):772-80. PMC: 3603318. DOI: 10.1093/molbev/mst010. View