Parabasalídeos em leitões em uma criação de suínos localizada na microrregião de Itaguaí, RJ

Abstract

Trichomoniasis is an infection caused by different flagellates’ species of to Parabasalia phylum. These parasites affect the gastrointestinal tract of several animal species, including man. In pigs, these flagellates are described in the intestinal tract, and may be related to diarrhea; in the nasal cavity, is associated with atrophic rhinitis and other respiratory disorders. Enteritis described in pigs farming, do not respond to conventional antibiotic therapy and are responsible for great economic loss, especially when affect the piglets not only by high mortality, but also by decreased weight gain and high cost control. The methodology proposed in this work was to evaluate the frequency of Parabasalidea in piglets located in the microregion of Itaguai / RJ, that have had frequent diarrhea episodes. To this end, 106 stool samples collected directly from the rectum, which were grown in several culture media like: Hank's, Caldo Peptonado, Diamond, 199, Cocktail, CHD and CH; and analyzed by optical microscopy, and protozoa isolates were characterized by molecular biology. On microscopic examination it was found that 75 samples were positive for the presence of the flagellate protozoan (70.75%). Media Cocktail, CHD and CH culture had lower bacterial growth and greater concentration of protozoan therefore are more suitable for the isolation of the studied species. Thirty-five positive samples under light microscopy had their DNA extracted and were amplified by PCR, resulting in 85.71% (30 samples) positive for trichomonads. Using species-specific primers 10 samples (33.33%) were positive for Pentatrichomonas hominis species. This is the first isolation of P. hominis in pigs from Brazil. Sequencing of the isolated species must be performed to know the diversity of Parabasalidea in pigs, correlating the high frequency of isolation with the presence of digestive disorders, and thus these protozoa could be considered as diarrhea differential diagnosis in pigs.