Phlebotomus papatasi exposure cross-protects mice against Leishmania major co-inoculated with Phlebotomus duboscqi salivary gland homogenate

Phlebotomus papatasi exposure cross-protects mice against Leishmania major co-inoculated with Phlebotomus duboscqi salivary gland homogenate.

Leishmania parasites are inoculated into host skin together with sand fly saliva and multiple exposures to uninfected sand fly bites protect mice against Leishmania infection. However, sand fly vectors differ in composition of the saliva and therefore the protection elicited by their salivary proteins was shown to be species-specific. On the other hand, the optimal vaccine based on sand fly sal...

Leishmania major Infected with Up-Regulates a Th2, Response in Mice Lysate Down-Regulates a Th1, but Sand Fly Salivary Gland Phlebotomus papatasi

Detection of amastigote-like forms in the valve of Phlebotomus papatasi infected with Leishmania major.

A massive and homogeneous amount of amastigote-like forms was detected in the stomodeal valve (SV) and the thoracic mid-gut (TMG) of Leishmania major-infected Phlebotomus papatasi, which received a second blood meal 13 to 21 days post-infection on healthy anaesthetized hamsters. After re-feeding, the infected sand flies were dissected out to examine the morphology of the parasite in SV, TMG and...

Seasonal and Physiological Variations of Phlebotomus papatasi Salivary Gland Antigens in Central Iran

BACKGROUND Sand fly saliva helps parasite establishment and induce immune responses in vertebrate hosts. In the current study, we investigated the modulation of Phlebotomus papatasi salivary gland antigen expression by seasonal and biological factors. METHODS Sand flies were grouped according to physiological stages such as unfed, fed, semi-gravid, gravid, parous, nulliparous, infected or non...

Estimation of the minimum number of Leishmania major amastigotes required for infecting Phlebotomus duboscqi (Diptera: Psychodidae).

BACKGROUND Leishmaniasis is a vector-borne disease in which Leishmania parasites are transmitted by the bite of phlebotomine sand flies. Amastigotes are ingested by the sand fly vector with a blood meal taken from an infected host. This is followed by their differentiation into metacyclic promastigotes which are selectively released and permitted to migrate interiorly so as to make them availab...