Hemagglutinins in Anopheles quadrimaculatus, Strains Susceptible and Refractory to Brugia malayi, and Their Role in the Immune Response to Filarial Parasites

Abstract

Hemagglutinins in the salivary gland extract and in the body fluid from strains of the mosquito, Anopheles quadrimaculatus, susceptible and refractory to the filarial parasite, Brugia malayi, had higher titers against Human A+, B− and O+, and sheep erythrocytes than against rabbit and jird erythrocytes. Hemagglutination activity in the body fluid was low in newly emerged females but increased and stabilized as they became older. Hemagglutination activity of the body fluid was not reduced by freezing at −20°C, but it was destroyed following heating the body fluid to 60°C and 100°C for 45 min, indicating that the hemagglutinins are heat labile, and they are proteins or glycoproteins. Hemagglutinins in the salivary glands exhibited specificities for a broader range of carbohydrate moieties on the surface of Human A+ and sheep erythrocytes than those in the body fluid. Injections of specific carbohydrates in saline solution into B. malayi–infected females of the refractory strain of An. quadrimaculatus 24 hr after the infective blood meal showed that galactose, N-acetyl-d-galactosamine, sorbose and mannose inhibited the increase in encapsulation (melanization) of L1 of B. malayi in the thoracic muscles of An. quadrimaculatus females when compared to those females injected with saline and other carbohydrates. The results suggest that hemagglutinins are present in the salivary gland extract and the body fluid of both strains of An. quadrimaculatus females and they may be involved in the immune response (encapsulation) to filarial parasites in An. quadrimaculatus.