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
5 resultados
Resultados de Busca
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- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Blood meal sources of mosquitoes captured in municipal parks in Sao Paulo, Brazil(2014) CARVALHO, Gabriela Cristina de; MALAFRONTE, Rosely dos Santos; IZUMISAWA, Clara Miti; TEIXEIRA, Renildo Souza; NATAL, Licia; MARRELLI, Mauro ToledoThe aim of this study was to investigate blood meal sources of mosquitoes captured in municipal parks in the city of Sao Paulo, Brazil, and to identify possible associations between mosquito species and their food preferences. Fourteen species of blood hosts of 510 engorged adult female mosquitoes were identified using PCR assays with a vertebrate-specific primer set based on cytochrome b mitochondrial DNA of the following vertebrates: birds, dogs, cats, rodents, humans, and other primates. Mosquitoes were captured using a manual aspirator, CDC traps in the canopy, CDC traps at ground level, and Shannon traps. With the exception of cats, all other vertebrates were used as hosts by mosquitoes in the parks. Statistical analysis failed to show any trend toward association between most culicid species captured and the sources of blood meals. Instead, they revealed random patterns, indicating that the mosquitoes fed on the most abundant or convenient blood meal sources. Although feeding preferences were observed in two species (birds in the case of Cx. nigripalpus and dogs in the case of Cx. quinquefasciatus), our results highlight the opportunistic feeding habits of the female mosquitoes in this study.
- Detection of Culex flavivirus and Aedes flavivirus nucleotide sequences in mosquitoes from parks in the city of Sao Paulo, Brazil(2016) FERNANDES, Licia Natal; PAULA, Marcia Bicudo de; ARAUJO, Alessandra Bergamo; GONCALVES, Elisabeth Fernandes Bertoletti; ROMANO, Camila Malta; NATAL, Delsio; MALAFRONTE, Rosely dos Santos; MARRELLI, Mauro Toledo; LEVI, Jose EduardoThe dengue viruses are widespread in Brazil and are a major public health concern. Other flaviviruses also cause diseases in humans, although on a smaller scale. The city of Sao Paulo is in a highly urbanized area with few green spaces apart from its parks, which are used for recreation and where potential vertebrate hosts and mosquito vectors of pathogenic Flavivirus species can be found. Although this scenario can contribute to the transmission of Flavivirus to humans, little is known about the circulation of members of this genus in these areas. In light of this, the present study sought to identify Flavivirus infection in mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) collected in parks in the city of Sao Paulo. Seven parks in different sectors of the city were selected. Monthly mosquito collections were carried out in each park from March 2011 to February 2012 using aspiration and traps (Shannon and CD C-CO2). Nucleic acids were extracted from the mosquitoes collected and used for reverse-transcriptase and real-time polymerase chain reactions with genus-specific primers targeting a 200-nucleotide region in the Flavivirus NS5 gene. Positive samples were sequenced, and phylogenetic analyses were performed. Culex and Aedes were the most frequent genera of Culicidae collected. Culex flavivirus (CxFV)-related and Aedes flavivirus (AEFV)- related nucleotide sequences were detected in 17 pools of Culex and two pools of Aedes mosquitoes, respectively, among the 818 pools of non-engorged females analyzed. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of CxFV and AEFV in the city of Sao Paulo and Latin America, respectively. Both viruses are insect- specific flaviviruses, a group known to replicate only in mosquito cells and induce a cytopathic effect in some situations. Hence, our data suggests that CxFV and AEFV are present in Culex and Aedes mosquitoes, respectively, in parks in the city of Sao Paulo. Even though Flavivirus species of medical importance were not detected, surveillance is recommended in the study areas because of the presence of vertebrates and mosquitoes that could act as amplifying hosts and vectors of flaviviruses, providing the required conditions for circulation of these viruses.