ANATOMOPATHOLOGICAL FINDINGS OF TOXOPLASMA SP. IN LAGOTHRIX LAGOTRICHA FROM AMAZON REGION

Abstract

Toxoplasma gondii is a zoonotic and cosmopolitan coccid, with horizontal and vertical transmission, and a biological cycle of the heteroxenic type, capable of infecting a wide variety of homeothermic animals, including non-human primates and human. The evolution of the disease occurs in an acute and chronic form, depending on the parasite-host relationship, the physiological condition of the infected and virulence, which can lead to death. In this report, the autopsy of three specimens of Lagothrix lagotricha was performed. In the necroscopic examination of the specimens, pulmonary edema and an increase in the size of the mesenteric and submandibular lymph nodes, liver and spleen were observed. Tissue samples were collected and fixed in 10% buffered formaldehyde, processed and analyzed. Histopathology identified structures of T. gondii in the forms of cystzoites in lymph node tissues, cardiac musculature, lungs, spleen and liver, and tachyzoites in liver tissue. It is concluded that this report contributes to the knowledge about the infection by T. gondii in nom human primates, considering the possibility of continuity of the cycle in the Amazonian ecosystem, by observing the forms of the coccid in several tissues of L. lagotricha, without developing macroscopic changes characteristics.