Considerações sobre a presença de formas promastigotas de Leishmania spp. em intestinos, ovários e glândulas salivares de carrapatos Rhipicephalus sanguineus em cães de áreas endêmicas: Milena Araúz Viol. -

We investigated the presence of promastigotes of Leishmania spp. by immunohistochemical method in intestines, ovaries and salivary glands of Rhipicephalus sanguineus ticks in dogs. In this study, was used, 66 dogs positive and 33 negative for Leishmania spp. by immunoenzymatic test (ELISA), direct cytological examination and by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). A total of 990 ticks were collected from these 99 dogs, 10 per animal and these were dissected, with further separation of the intestines, ovaries and salivary glands. Slides of these organs were made for the implementation of immunohistochemistry (IHC). Also the real-time PCR was performed in these organs as well as the quantification of that parasite load. For real-time PCR of the guts, ovaries and salivary glands of ticks were detected positivities 93.94%, 46.97% and 27.27%, respectively. The average parasitic loads in the intestine were 9027.90 Leishmania/μL, the ovaries 411.66 Leishmania/μL and salivary glands 305.56 Leishmania/μL. Regarding the readings of IHC slides in 98.48% of the intestines, 13.64% of the ovaries and 7.58% of the salivary glands were positive for Leishmania spp. In view of these results shown by IHC technique, using the lipofosfoglicano primary antibody (LPG), we consider the possibility of the presence of promastigotes of Leishmania spp. in R. sanguineus organsFundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP