Coccidia of Brazilian mammals: Eimeria marajoensis N. Sp. (Apicomplexa: Eimeriidae) from the Anteater, Tamandua tetradactyla (Xenarthra: Myrmecophagidae)

Pathology in the appendicular bones of southern tamandua, Tamandua tetradactyla (Xenarthra, Pilosa): injuries to the locomotor system and first case report of osteomyelitis in anteaters

BACKGROUND

The southern tamandua, Tamandua tetradactyla (Linnaeus, 1758), is the most common species of anteater. Even though much is known about its ecology, behavior, and parasites, there is very limited information about bone diseases in Tamandua and other anteaters. Here, we examined postcranial skeletons of 64 T. tetradactyla museum specimens covering most of the material available in Brazilian collections.

RESULTS

The following bone diseases were identified for the first time in Tamandua and other extant and fossil vermilinguans: osteophytes, osteitis, osteoarthritis, periostitis, exostoses, enthesopathies, and a severe chronic pyogenic osteomyelitis associated with fistulae, cloacae (pus), bone loss, and neoformation processes. Musculoskeletal reconstruction revealed that an old specimen was restricted to terrestrial locomotion due to osteopathological processes that impaired its climbing.

CONCLUSIONS

New osteopathological informations are presented for T. tetradactyla, favoring a better understanding of the expression of some bone diseases in wild animals. In addition, the diagnosis of these bone diseases in living anteaters provides useful information for studies on animal health and welfare, as well as contributing to the more effective recognition of paleodiseases in fossil xenarthrans.

Isolated Pneumocystis carinii cell wall glucan provokes lower respiratory tract inflammatory responses

Macrophage-induced lung inflammation contributes substantially to respiratory failure during Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia. We isolated a P. carinii cell wall fraction rich in glucan carbohydrate, which potently induces TNF-alpha and macrophage-inflammatory protein-2 generation from alveolar macrophages. Instillation of this purified P. carinii carbohydrate cell wall fraction into healthy rodents is accompanied by substantial increases in whole lung TNF-alpha generation and is associated with neutrophilic infiltration of the lungs. Digestion of the P. carinii cell wall isolate with zymolyase, a preparation containing predominantly beta-1,3 glucanase, substantially reduces the ability of this P. carinii cell wall fraction to activate alveolar macrophages, thus suggesting that beta-glucan components of the P. carinii cell wall largely mediate TNF-alpha release. Furthermore, the soluble carbohydrate beta-glucan receptor antagonists laminariheptaose and laminarin also substantially reduce the ability of the P. carinii cell wall isolate to stimulate macrophage-inflammatory activation. In contrast, soluble alpha-mannan, a preparation that antagonizes macrophage mannose receptors, had minimal effect on TNF-alpha release induced by the P. carinii cell wall fraction. P. carinii beta-glucan-induced TNF-alpha release from alveolar macrophages was also inhibited by both dexamethasone and pentoxifylline, two pharmacological agents with potential activity in controlling P. carinii-induced lung inflammation. These data demonstrate that P. carinii beta-glucan cell wall components can directly stimulate alveolar macrophages to release proinflammatory cytokines mainly through interaction with cognate beta-glucan receptors on the phagocyte.

Clinical disorders observed in anteaters (Myrmecophagidae, Edentata) in captivity

The major health problems found in 103 captive lesser anteaters (Tamandua tetradactyla) and giant anteaters (Myrmecophaga tridactyla), family Myrmecophagidae, are presented and correlated with management. The most common of 200 recorded clinical disorders involved the digestive system (26%), nutritional deficiency (20%), injury (15.5%), respiratory system (10%), skin (7%) and circulatory system (4.5%), but 13% of the cases were inconclusive. Parasites were identified in 48.5% of faecal samples, mainly the eggs of nematodes (40%), of which the commonest were Trichuris spp (28%) and Strongyloides spp (11%); protozoa (16%), of which the commonest were Eimeria spp (10%), Entamoeba spp (5%) and Giardia spp (1%); and cestodes (8%) and acanthocephalids (1%). Bacteria cultured from the various materials included Salmonella enteritidis, S. cholerasuis, Escherichia coli, Enterobacter aerogenes, Streptococcus spp and Staphylococcus spp. The ectoparasites found were Amblyomma spp and Otodectis spp (Arthropoda, Acaridae).