LICIA NATAL FERNANDES
Projetos de Pesquisa
Unidades Organizacionais
Departamento de Patologia, Faculdade de Medicina
LIM/49 - Laboratório de Protozoologia, Hospital das Clínicas, Faculdade de Medicina - Líder
LIM/49 - Laboratório de Protozoologia, Hospital das Clínicas, Faculdade de Medicina - Líder
14 resultados
Resultados de Busca
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- First Report of Wenzhou sobemo-like virus 4 in Aedes albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae) in Latin America(2022) ANDRADE, Pamela S.; VALENCA, Ian N.; HEINISCH, Marta R. S.; ROCHA, Esmenia C.; FERNANDES, Licia N.; FARIA, Nuno R.; SABINO, Ester C.; LIMA-CAMARA, Tamara N.Insect-specific viruses (ISVs) are viruses that replicate exclusively in arthropod cells. Many ISVs have been studied in mosquitoes as many of them act as vectors for human etiological agents, such as arboviruses. Aedes (Stegomyia) albopictus is an important potential vector of several arboviruses in Brazil, such as dengue (DENV), Zika (ZIKV) and chikungunya (CHIKV). The development of next-generation sequencing metagenomics has enabled the discovery and characterization of new ISVs. Ae. albopictus eggs were collected using oviposition traps placed in two urban parks in the city of Sao Paulo, Brazil. The Aedes albopictus females were divided into pools and the genetic material was extracted and processed for sequencing by metagenomics. Complete genomes of ISV Wenzhou sobemo-like virus 4 (WSLV4) were obtained in three of the four pools tested. This is the first detection of ISV WSLV4 in Ae. albopictus females in Latin America. Further studies on ISVs in Ae. albopictus are needed to better understand the role of this species in the dynamics of arbovirus transmission in the Americas.
- Clustering symptoms of non-severe malaria in semi-immune Amazonian patients(2015) MARTINS, Antonio C.; ARAUJO, Felipe M.; BRAGA, Cassio B.; GUIMARAES, Maria G. S.; NOGUEIRA, Rudi; ARRUDA, Rayanne A.; FERNANDES, Licia N.; CORREA, Livia R.; MALAFRONTE, Rosely dos S.; CRUZ, Oswaldo G.; CODECO, Claudia T.; SILVA-NUNES, Monica daMalaria is a disease that generates a broad spectrum of clinical features. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical spectrum of malaria in semi-immune populations. Patients were recruited in Mancio Lima, a city situated in the Brazilian Amazon region. The study included 171 malaria cases, which were diagnosed via the use of a thick blood smear and confirmed by molecular methods. A questionnaire addressing 19 common symptoms was administered to all patients. Multiple correspondence analysis and hierarchical cluster analysis were performed to identify clusters of symptoms, and logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with the occurrence of symptoms. The cluster analysis revealed five groups of symptoms: the first cluster, which included algic- and fever-related symptoms, occurred in up to 95.3% of the cases. The second cluster, which comprised gastric symptoms (nausea, abdominal pain, inappetence, and bitter mouth), occurred in frequencies that ranged between 35.1% and 42.7%, and at least one of these symptoms was observed in 71.9% of the subjects. All respiratory symptoms were clustered and occurred in 42.7% of the malaria cases, and diarrhea occurred in 9.9% of the cases. Symptoms constituting the fifth cluster were vomiting and pallor, with a 14.6% and 11.7% of prevalence, respectively. A higher parasitemia count (more than 300 parasites/mm(3)) was associated with the presence of fever, vomiting, dizziness, and weakness (P < 0.05). Arthralgia and myalgia were associated with patients over the age of 14 years (P < 0.001). Having experienced at least eight malaria episodes prior to the study was associated with a decreased risk of chills and fever and an increased risk of sore throat (P < 0.05). None of the symptoms showed an association with gender or with species of Plasmodium. The clinical spectrum of malaria in semi-immune individuals can have a broad range of symptoms, the frequency and intensity of which are associated with age, past exposure to malaria, and parasitemia. Understanding the full spectrum of nonsevere malaria is important in endemic areas to guide both passive and active case detection, for the diagnosis of malaria in travelers returning to non-endemic areas, and for the development of vaccines aimed to decrease symptom severity.
- A survey of flaviviruses in birds in green areas of Sao Paulo, Brazil(2016) ORICO, Lilian Dias; FERNANDES, Licia Natal; MELO, Marcos Antonio; ZWARG, Ticiana; LEVI, Jose Eduardo; MARRELLI, Mauro ToledoIntroduction: This study aimed to investigate Flavivirus infection in birds captured in green areas of Sao Paulo. Methods: Oropharyngeal swabs, cloacal swabs, and blood samples from 170 birds captured in two green areas in Sao Paulo, Brazil were subjected to real time-polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) analysis of Flavivirus specific NS5 gene fragment. Results: All samples were negative for the presence of viral ribonucleic acid (RNA). Conclusions: Despite the negative results, Flavivirus surveillance must be performed regularly due to favorable ecological conditions for virus circulation and transmission among birds in these areas and their close proximity to humans.
- A Novel Highly Divergent Strain of Cell Fusing Agent Virus (CFAV) in Mosquitoes from the Brazilian Amazon Region(2018) FERNANDES, Licia Natal; COLETTI, Thais de Moura; MONTEIRO, Fred Julio Costa; REGO, Marlisson Octavio da Silva; RIBEIRO, Edcelha Soares D'Athaide; RIBEIRO, Geovani de Oliveira; MARINHO, Robson dos Santos Souza; KOMNINAKIS, Shirley Vasconcelos; WITKIN, Steven S.; DENG, Xutao; DELWART, Eric; SABINO, Ester Cerdeira; LEAL, Elcio; COSTA, Antonio Charlys daClassical insect-specific flaviviruses (cISFs) have been widely detected in different countries in the last decades. Here, we characterize the near full-length genomes of two cISFs detected in mosquitoes collected in the city of Macapa, state of Amapa, Amazon region of Brazil. A total of 105 pools of female mosquitos were analyzed by next-generation sequencing (NGS). Comparative genomics and phylogenetic analysis identified three strains of cell fusing agent virus (CFAV) and two of Culex flavivirus (CxFV). All sequences were obtained from pools of Culex sp., except for one sequence of CFAV detected in a pool of Aedes aegypti. Both CxFV strains are phylogenetically related to a strain isolated in 2012 in the Southeast region of Brazil. The CFAV strains are the first of this species to be identified in Brazil and one of them is highly divergent from other strains of CFAV that have been detected worldwide. In conclusion, CFAV and CxFV, circulate in mosquitoes in Brazil. One strain of CFAV is highly divergent from others previously described, suggesting that a novel strain of CFAV is present in this region.
- Assessment of asymptomatic Plasmodium spp. infection by detection of parasite DNA in residents of an extra-Amazonian region of Brazil(2018) ALENCAR, Filomena E. C. de; MALAFRONTE, Rosely dos Santos; CERUTTI JUNIOR, Crispim; FERNANDES, Licia Natal; BUERY, Julyana Cerqueira; FUX, Blima; REZENDE, Helder Ricas; DUARTE, Ana Maria Ribeiro de Castro; MEDEIROS-SOUSA, Antonio Ralph; MIRANDA, Angelica EspinosaBackground: The hypotheses put forward to explain the malaria transmission cycle in extra-Amazonian Brazil, an area of very low malaria incidence, are based on either a zoonotic scenario involving simian malaria, or a scenario in which asymptomatic carriers play an important role. Objectives: To determine the incidence of asymptomatic infection by detecting Plasmodium spp. DNA and its role in residual malaria transmission in a non-Amazonian region of Brazil. Methods: Upon the report of the first malaria case in 2010 in the Atlantic Forest region of the state of Espirito Santo, inhabitants within a 2 km radius were invited to participate in a follow-up study. After providing signed informed consent forms, inhabitants filled out a questionnaire and gave blood samples for PCR, and thick and thin smears. Followup visits were performed every 3 months over a 21 month period, when new samples were collected and information was updated. Results: Ninety-two individuals were initially included for follow-up. At the first collection, all of them were clearly asymptomatic. One individual was positive for Plasmodium vivax, one for Plasmodium malariae and one for both P. vivax and P. malariae, corresponding to a prevalence of 3.4% (2.3% for each species). During follow-up, four new PCR-positive cases (two for each species) were recorded, corresponding to an incidence of 2.5 infections per 100 personyears or 1.25 infections per 100 person-years for each species. A mathematical transmission model was applied, using a low frequency of human carriers and the vector density in the region, and calculated based on previous studies in the same locality whose results were subjected to a linear regression. This analysis suggests that the transmission chain is unlikely to be based solely on human carriers, regardless of whether they are symptomatic or not. Conclusion: The low incidence of cases and the low frequency of asymptomatic malaria carriers investigated make it unlikely that the transmission chain in the region is based solely on human hosts, as cases are isolated one from another by hundreds of kilometers and frequently by long periods of time, reinforcing instead the hypothesis of zoonotic transmission.
- Characterization of insect-specific Culex flavivirus (Flaviviridae) nucleotide sequences in mosquitoes from urban parks in Sao Paulo, Brazil(2022) COLETTI, Thais de Moura; ROMANO, Camila Malta; URBINATTI, Paulo Roberto; TEIXEIRA, Renildo Souza; PEDROSA, Leila Weiss de Almeida; NARDI, Marcello Schiavo; NATAL, Delsio; COSTA, Antonio Charlys da; JESUS, Jaqueline Goes de; CLARO, Ingra Morales; SABINO, Ester Cerdeira; WITKIN, Steven S.; MARRELLI, Mauro Toledo; FERNANDES, Licia NatalBackground: Despite their worldwide occurrence, the distribution and role of insect-specific flaviviruses (ISFs) remain unclear. Methods: We evaluated the presence of ISFs in mosquitoes collected in Sao Paulo, Brazil, using reverse transcription and semi-nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Some of the positive samples were subjected to nanopore sequencing. Results: Twelve mosquito pools (2.8%) tested positive for flavivirus infection. Nanopore sequencing was successfully performed on six samples. Phylogenetic analysis grouped these sequences into genotype 2 of Culex flavivirus (CxFV). Conclusions: The identification of CxFV genotype 2 at new locations in Sao Paulo highlights the importance of understanding the role of ISFs in mosquito vector competence.
- Mitochondrial genome of Plasmodium vivax/simium detected in an endemic region for malaria in the Atlantic Forest of Espirito Santo state, Brazil: do mosquitoes, simians and humans harbour the same parasite?(2017) BUERY, Julyana Cerqueira; RODRIGUES, Priscila Thihara; NATAL, Licia; SALLA, Lais Camoese; LOSS, Ana Carolina; VICENTE, Creuza Rachel; REZENDE, Helder Ricas; DUARTE, Ana Maria Ribeiro de Castro; FUX, Blima; MALAFRONTE, Rosely dos Santos; FALQUETO, Aloisio; CERUTTI JR., CrispimBackground: The transmission of malaria in the extra-Amazonian regions of Brazil, although interrupted in the 1960s, has persisted to the present time in some areas of dense Atlantic Forest, with reports of cases characterized by particular transmission cycles and clinical presentations. Bromeliad-malaria, as it is named, is particularly frequent in the state of Espirito Santo, with Plasmodium vivax being the parasite commonly recognized as the aetiologic agent of human infections. With regard to the spatial and temporal distances between cases reported in this region, the transmission cycle does not fit the traditional malaria cycle. The existence of a zoonosis, with infected simians participating in the epidemiology, is therefore hypothesized. In the present study, transmission of bromeliad-malaria in Espirito Santo is investigated, based on the complete mitochondrial genome of DNA extracted from isolates of Plasmodium species, which had infected humans, a simian from the genus Allouata, and Anopheles mosquitoes. Plasmodium vivax/simium was identified in the samples by both nested PCR and real-time PCR. After amplification, the mitochondrial genome was completely sequenced and compared with a haplotype network which included all sequences of P. vivax/simium mitochondrial genomes sampled from humans and simians from all regions in Brazil. Results: The haplotype network indicates that humans and simians from the Atlantic Forest become infected by the same haplotype, but some isolates from humans are not identical to the simian isolate. In addition, the plasmodial DNA extracted from mosquitoes revealed sequences different from those obtained from simians, but similar to two isolates from humans. Conclusions: These findings strengthen support for the hypothesis that in the Atlantic Forest, and especially in the state with the highest frequency of bromeliad-malaria in Brazil, parasites with similar molecular backgrounds are shared by humans and simians. The recognized identity between P. vivax and P. simium at the species level, the sharing of haplotypes, and the participation of the same vector in transmitting the infection to both host species indicate interspecies transference of the parasites. However, the intensity, frequency and direction of this transfer remain to be clarified.
- Aedes aegyptifrom Amazon Basin Harbor High Diversity of Novel Viral Species(2020) RIBEIRO, Geovani de Oliveira; MORAIS, Vanessa S.; MONTEIRO, Fred Julio Costa; RIBEIRO, Edcelha Soares D'Athaide; REGO, Marlisson Octavio da S.; SOUTO, Raimundo Nonato Picanco; VILLANOVA, Fabiola; TAHMASEBI, Roozbeh; HEFFORD, Philip Michael; DENG, Xutao; DELWART, Eric; SABINO, Ester Cerdeira; FERNANDES, Licia Natal; COSTA, Antonio Charlys da; LEAL, ElcioViruses are the most diverse and abundant microorganisms on earth, highly adaptive to a wide range of hosts. Viral diversity within invertebrate hosts has gained notoriety in recent years in public health as several such viruses have been of medical importance.Aedes aegyptiserves as a vector for several viruses that have caused epidemics within the last year throughout Brazil; including Dengue, Zika and Chikungunya. This study aimed to identify new viral agents withinAedes aegyptimosquito in a city of the Amazonian region, where it is highly endemic. Metagenomic investigation was performed on 60 mosquito pools and viral RNA sequences present in their microbiota were characterized using genomic and phylogenetic tools. In total, we identified five putative novel virus species related to theSobemovirusgenus,Iflavirusgenus andPermutatetraviridaefamily. These findings indicate a diverse taxonomy of viruses present in the mosquito microbiota of the Amazon, the region with the greatest invertebrate diversity in the world.
- Complexity of malaria transmission dynamics in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest(2021) DUARTE, Ana Maria Ribeiro de Castro; FERNANDES, Licia Natal; SILVA, Fabiana Santos; SICCHI, Igor Lucoves; MUCCI, Luis Filipe; CURADO, Izilda; FERNANDES, Aristides; MEDEIROS-SOUSA, Antonio Ralph; CERETTI-JUNIOR, Walter; MARRELLI, Mauro Toledo; EVANGELISTA, Eduardo; TEIXEIRA, Renildo; SUMMA, Juliana Laurito; NARDI, Marcello Schiavo; GARNICA, Margoth Ramos; LOSS, Ana Carolina; BUERY, Julyana Cerqueira; CERUTT, Crispim; PACHECO, M. Andreina; ESCALANTE, Ananias A.; SALLUM, Maria Anice Mureb; LAPORTA, Gabriel ZorelloPlasmodium malariae and Plasmodium vivax are protozoan parasites that can cause malaria in humans. They are genetically indistinguishable from, respectively, Plasmodium brasilianum and Plasmodium simium, i.e. parasites infecting New World non-human primates in South America. In the tropical rainforests of the Brazilian Atlantic coast, it has long been hypothesized that P. brasilianum and P. simium in platyrrhine primates originated from P. malariae and P. vivax in humans. A recent hypothesis proposed the inclusion of Plasmodium falciparum into the transmission dynamics between humans and non-human primates in the Brazilian Atlantic tropical rainforest. Herein, we assess the occurrence of human malaria in simians and sylvatic anophelines using field-collected samples in the Capivari-Monos Environmental Protection Area from 2015 to 2017. We first tested simian blood and anopheline samples. Two simian (Aloutta) blood samples (18%, n = 11) showed Plasmodium cytb DNA sequences, one for P. vivax and another for P. malariae. From a total of 9,416 anopheline females, we found 17 pools positive for Plasmodium species with a 18S qPCR assay. Only three showed P. cytb DNA sequence, one for P. vivax and the others for rodent malaria species (similar to Plasmodium chabaudi and Plasmodium berghei). Based on these results, we tested 25 rodent liver samples for the presence of Plasmodium and obtained P. falciparum cytb DNA sequence in a rodent (Oligoryzomys sp.) liver. The findings of this study indicate complex malaria transmission dynamics composed by parallel spillover-spillback of human malaria parasites, i.e. P. malariae, P. vivax, and P. falciparum, in the Brazilian Atlantic forest.
- Ecological characterisation and infection of Anophelines (Diptera: Culicidae) of the Atlantic Forest in the southeast of Brazil over a 10 year period: has the behaviour of the autochthonous malaria vector changed?(2018) BUERY, Julyana Cerqueira; REZENDE, Helder Ricas; NATAL, Licia; SILVA, Leonardo Santana da; MENEZES, Regiane Maria Tironi de; FUX, Blima; MALAFRONTE, Rosely dos Santos; FALQUETO, Aloisio; CERUTTI JUNIOR, CrispimBACKGROUND In southeastern Brazil, autochthonous cases of malaria can be found near Atlantic Forest fragments. Because the transmission cycle has not been completely clarified, the behaviour of the possible vectors in those regions must be observed. A study concerning the entomological aspects and natural infection of anophelines (Diptera: Culicidae) captured in the municipalities of the mountainous region of Espirito Santo state was performed in 2004 and 2005. Similarly, between 2014 and 2015, 12 monthly collections were performed at the same area of the study mentioned above. METHODS Center for Disease Control (CDC) light traps with CO2 were set in open areas, at the edge and inside of the forest (canopy and ground), whereas Shannon traps were set on the edge. FINDINGS A total of 1,414 anophelines were collected from 13 species. Anopheles (Kerteszia) cruzii Dyar and Knab remained the most frequently captured species in the CDC traps set in the forest canopy, as well as being the vector with the highest prevalence of Plasmodium vivax/simium infection, according to molecular polymerase chain reaction techniques. CONCLUSIONS P. vivax/simium was found only in abdomens of the mosquitoes of the subgenus Nyssorhynchus, weakening the hypothesis that this subgenus also plays a role in malaria transmission in this specific region.