Effect of Aedes aegypti salivary components in the infection by parasites of the Leishmania genus

Abstract

Aedes aegypti mosquitoes are well-known biological vectors of arboviruses such as dengue fever, yellow fever and Chikungunya fever, being widespread to the whole Brazilian territory. The hematophagous habit of A. aegypti females is necessary to acquire the nutrients for eggs' maturation and development. In this sense, saliva plays an important role, representing the link between hematophagous arthropod, its vertebrate host and the pathogen to be potentially transmitted. In this saliva, a pharmacological cocktail with many biological activities, the presence of antimicrobial peptides, and also series of immunomodulatory functions on the host cells, in particular in macrophages, can be found. Leishmaniasis is a disease caused by Leishmania protozoans and considered a zoonosis with a great importance in public health, whose current treatment is limited by a number of reasons. Thus, this present project aims: 1) to evaluate whether A. aegypti salivary components present direct activity on Leishmania parasites; 2) to determine their putative role in Leishmania/macrophage interaction in a murine model and; 3) to observe whether in vivo treatment with mosquito salivary gland extract is able to affect the course of infection in mice. (AU)