ArticlePLoS neglected tropical diseases2022
Analysis of human clinical and environmental Leptospira to elucidate the eco-epidemiology of leptospirosis in Yaeyama, subtropical Japan.
Article in PLoS neglected tropical diseases, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 22 citations in OpenAlex.
- Multidrug-resistant and virulence traits in genetically distinct vesicular Leptospira inhabiting farmland and sewage in Southern India.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Environmental Distribution of Pathogenic Leptospira spp. in Subtropical Rivers of Japan and Implications for Human Infection.Tropical medicine & international health : TM & IH · 2026Article
- Pathogenic Leptospira species identified in dogs and cats during neutering in Thailand.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2026Article
- Distinct strategies of epithelial cell barrier disruption by Leptospira interrogans isolated from human patients in Okinawa, Japan.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2025Article
- Endemicity, Clinical Features, Risk Factors, and the Potential for Severe Infection inTropical medicine and infectious disease · 2025Article
- DNA metabarcoding analysis revealed a silent prevalence of environmental pathogenicOne health (Amsterdam, Netherlands) · 2025Article
- Flood-associated disease outbreaks and transmission in Southeast Asia.Frontiers in microbiology · 2025Review
- A systematic survey of environmental DNA in Palau's lakes and waterfalls reveals an increase inOne health (Amsterdam, Netherlands) · 2024Article
- Leptospirosis in the Platypus (Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2024Article
- Isolation and characterization of Leptospira licerasiae in Austrian swine - a first-time case report in Europe.BMC veterinary research · 2024Article
- Case Report: Leptospirosis after a Typhoon Disaster Outside the Endemic Region, Japan.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2023Article
- Epidemiological Characteristics and Trends in the Incidence of Leptospirosis in Japan: A Nationwide, Observational Study from 2006 to 2021.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2023Observational
- Presence ofApplied and environmental microbiology · 2023Article
- Degradation of p0071 and p120-catenin during adherens junction disassembly byFrontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundLeptospirosis, a zoonosis caused by species in the spirochete genus Leptospira, is endemic to the Yaeyama region in Okinawa, subtropical Japan. Species of the P1 subclade "virulent" group, within the genus Leptospira, are the main etiological agents of leptospirosis in Okinawa. However, their environmental persistence is poorly understood. This study used a combination of bacterial isolation and environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding methods to understand the eco-epidemiology of leptospirosis in this endemic region.
findingsPolymerase chain reaction (PCR) characterized twelve human clinical L. interrogans isolates belonging to the P1 subclade "virulent" subgroup and 11 environmental soil isolates of the P1subclade "low virulent" subgroup (genetically related to L. kmetyi, n = 1; L. alstonii, n = 4; L. barantonii, n = 6) from the Yaeyama region targeting four virulence-related genes (lipL32, ligA, ligB and lpxD1). Clinical isolates were PCR positive for at least three targeted genes, while all environmental isolates were positive only for lipL32. Analysis of infected renal epithelial cells with selected clinical and environmental strains, revealed the disassembly of cell-cell junctions for the Hebdomadis clinical strain serogroup. Comparison of leptospiral eDNA during winter and summer identified operational taxonomic units corresponding to the species isolated from soil samples (L. kmetyi and L. barantonii) and additional P2 subclade species (L. licerasiae, L. wolffii-related, among others) that were not detected by soil cultivation. Total Leptospira read counts were higher in summer than in winter and the analysis of leptospiral/animal eDNA relationship suggested Rattus spp. as a potential reservoir animal.
conclusionOur study demonstrated high environmental Leptospira diversity in the Yaeyama region, particularly during summer, when most of the leptospirosis cases are reported. In addition, several Leptospira species with pathogenic potential were identified that have not yet been reported in Yaeyama; however, the environmental persistence of P1 subclade species previously isolated from human clinical cases in this region was absent, suggesting the need of further methodology development and surveillance.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.