1. First histopathological study in kidneys of rodents naturally infected with Leptospira pathogenic species from Yucatan, Mexico
Marco TORRES-CASTRO ; Jorge ZAVALA-CASTRO ; Fernando I. PUERTO ; Leonardo GUILLERMO-CORDERO ; Silvia HERNÁNDEZ-BETANCOURT ; Edwin GUTIÉRREZ-RUÍZ ; Piedad AGUDELO-FLÓREZ ; Ronald PELÁEZ-SÁNCHEZ
Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Medicine 2016;9(2):145-147
Objective: To report the renal histological lesions in synanthropic rodents, Mus musculus and Rattus rattus, naturally infected with Leptospira spp., captured in a rural community in Yucatan, Mexico. Methods: Kidney samples of synanthropic rodents were collected from a rural community in Yucatan, Mexico. Polymerase chain reaction was used to detect Leptospira spp. infection. Tissue kidney was fixed in 10% buffered formalin, processed according to the usual techniques for paraffin inclusion, cut and stained with hematoxylin and eosin, and examined using a conventional electronic microscope. Results: A total of 187 rodents were captured. Nine individuals (4.8%) were positive for Leptospira spp. in the molecular analysis. All renal lesions observed in the histopathological study had been reported previously for Leptospira spp. infection. Conclusions: The histopathological lesions are present in the kidneys, plus the results of the polymerase chain reaction confirm that these rodents are true carriers of Leptospira spp.