BACKGROUND: Canine leishmaniosis (CanL) is an important zoonotic parasitic disease, endemic in the Mediterranean basin. In this region, transmission of Leishmania infantum, the etiological agent of CanL, is through the bite of phlebotomine sand flies. Therefore, monitoring host-vector contact represents an important epidemiological tool, and could be used to assess the effectiveness of vector-control programmes in endemic areas. Previous studies have shown that canine antibodies against the saliva of phlebotomine sand flies are specific markers of exposure to Leishmania vectors. However, this method needs to be further validated in natural heterogeneous dog populations living in CanL endemic areas. METHODS: In this study, 176 dogs living in 12 different locations of an L. infantum endemic area in north-east Spain were followed for 14 months. Blood samples were taken at 5 pre-determined time points (February, August and October 2016; January and April 2017) to assess the canine humoral immune response to whole salivary gland homogenate (SGH) and to the single salivary 43 kDa yellow-related recombinant protein (rSP03B) of Phlebotomus perniciosus, a proven vector of L. infantum naturally present in this region. Simultaneously, in all dogs, L. infantum infection status was assessed by serology. The relationship between anti-SGH and anti-rSP03B antibodies with the sampling month, L. infantum infection and the location was tested by fitting multilevel linear regression models. RESULTS: The dynamics of canine anti-saliva IgG for both SGH and rSP03B followed the expected trends of P. perniciosus activity in the region. Statistically significant associations were detected for both salivary antigens between vector exposure and sampling month or dog seropositivity to L. infantum. The correlation between canine antibodies against SGH and rSP03B was moderate. CONCLUSIONS: Our results confirm the frequent presence of CanL vectors in the study area in Spain and support the applicability of SGH- and rSP03B-based ELISA tests to study canine exposure to P. perniciosus in L. infantum endemic areas.
- MeSH
- endemické nemoci veterinární MeSH
- hmyz - vektory parazitologie MeSH
- humorální imunita MeSH
- imunoglobulin G analýza MeSH
- Leishmania infantum izolace a purifikace MeSH
- leishmanióza krev parazitologie veterinární MeSH
- longitudinální studie MeSH
- nemoci psů diagnóza imunologie parazitologie MeSH
- Phlebotomus imunologie MeSH
- protilátky protozoální krev MeSH
- protilátky krev MeSH
- psi imunologie parazitologie MeSH
- roční období MeSH
- slinné proteiny a peptidy imunologie MeSH
- slinné žlázy chemie parazitologie MeSH
- sliny imunologie mikrobiologie parazitologie MeSH
- zvířata MeSH
- Check Tag
- psi imunologie parazitologie MeSH
- ženské pohlaví MeSH
- zvířata MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
- Geografické názvy
- Španělsko MeSH
BACKGROUND: Leishmaniases are parasitic diseases present worldwide that are transmitted to the vertebrate host by the bite of an infected sand fly during a blood feeding. Phlebotomine sand flies inoculate into the mammalian host Leishmania parasites embedded in promastigote secretory gel (PSG) with saliva, which is composed of a diverse group of molecules with pharmacological and immunomodulatory properties. METHODS AND FINDINGS: In this review, we focus on 3 main aspects of sand fly salivary molecules: (1) structure and composition of salivary glands, including the properties of salivary molecules related to hemostasis and blood feeding, (2) immunomodulatory properties of salivary molecules and the diverse impacts of these molecules on leishmaniasis, ranging from disease exacerbation to vaccine development, and (3) use of salivary molecules for field applications, including monitoring host exposure to sand flies and the risk of Leishmania transmission. Studies showed interesting differences between salivary proteins of Phlebotomus and Lutzomyia species, however, no data were ever published on salivary proteins of Sergentomyia species. CONCLUSIONS: In the last 15 years, numerous studies have characterized sand fly salivary proteins and, in parallel, have addressed the impact of such molecules on the biology of the host-sand fly-parasite interaction. The results obtained shall pave the way for the development of field-application tools that could contribute to the management of leishmaniasis in endemic areas.
Several lines of indirect evidence suggest that subjects with latent infection of the coccidian parasite Toxoplasma gondii have a higher concentration of testosterone than uninfected controls. Here, we searched for direct evidence of latent toxoplasmosis-associated differences in testosterone concentration among a population of 174 female and 91 male students screened for Toxoplasma infection. We have found Toxoplasma-infected men to have a higher concentration of testosterone and Toxoplasma-infected women to have a lower concentration of testosterone than Toxoplasma-free controls. The opposite direction of the testosterone shift in men compared to women can explain the observed gender specificity of behavioural shifts in Toxoplasma-infected subjects.
- MeSH
- dospělí MeSH
- ELISA MeSH
- financování organizované MeSH
- komplement fixační testy MeSH
- lidé MeSH
- mladiství MeSH
- protilátky protozoální krev MeSH
- sexuální faktory MeSH
- sliny parazitologie MeSH
- testosteron krev MeSH
- Toxoplasma izolace a purifikace MeSH
- toxoplazmóza krev parazitologie MeSH
- věkové faktory MeSH
- zvířata MeSH
- Check Tag
- dospělí MeSH
- lidé MeSH
- mladiství MeSH
- mužské pohlaví MeSH
- ženské pohlaví MeSH
- zvířata MeSH
