Abstract
Laboratory animals exposed to feeding ticks develop resistance which is reflected by a decline in tick engorgement weight, egg-laying by adults and reduced egg viability. Serum antibodies from these hosts and their reaction with tick antigens have been detected by different methods, including precipitation techniques, immunofluorescent techniques, ELISA and Western blots. However, little is known about the effects of antibodies on ticks that engorge on resistant hosts, or which tissues of the tick body are possibly immunogenic. Some researchers, using immunohistochemistry, have detected host antibodies in the gut, salivary glands and haemolymph of ticks engorged on resistant animals. The same technique has helped considerably in determining antigenic sites or antibody targets in other arthropods. Consequently, immunohistochemistry techniques were used in this study to detect cross-reactivity between sera raised against Amblyomma cajennense (Fabricius, 1787) with Amblyomma hebraeum (Koch, 1844), and vice versa. The results show the existence of shared antigens between the 2 tick species. In general, our results point more to a 1-way cross-reactivity of A. hebraeum with A. cajennense than a reciprocal cross-reactivity, suggesting that A. hebraeum is more immunogenic than A. cajennense.
Highlights
Ticks are of medical as well as veterinary importance
It is noteworthy that serum obtained from rabbits infested with A. hebraeum reacted positively with some internal organs from A. cajennense
Our results showed the existence of shared antigens between A. cajennense & A. hebraeum
Summary
Ticks are of medical as well as veterinary importance. As vectors of human diseases, they have been ranked 2nd to mosquitoes. As vectors of animal diseases they are considered to be the most important arthropods. Since they are obligatory blood-sucking ectoparasites with lengthy and physiologically slow life cycles, they constitute very important vectors and reservoirs of rickettsia, spirochaetes, protozoa, bacteria and viruses. It is well established that various species of ixodid ticks induce a degree of resistance in the host and that resistance is immunologically mediated[14]. The nature aParasitology Research Programme, Department of Zoology and Entomology, Qwa-Qwa Campus, University of the Free State, Private Bag X13, Phuthaditjhaba, 9866 South Africa. BDepartment of Animal Pathology, The State University of São Paulo, 14.870-000, Jaboticabal-SP, Brazil
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