Abstract
BackgroundThe control of vector-borne diseases is important to improve human and animal health worldwide. Malaria is one of the world’s deadliest diseases and is caused by protozoan parasites of the genus Plasmodium, which are transmitted by Anopheles spp. mosquitoes. Recent evidences using Subolesin (SUB) and Akirin (AKR) vaccines showed a reduction in the survival and/or fertility of blood-sucking ectoparasite vectors and the infection with vector-borne pathogens. These experiments suggested the possibility of using AKR for malaria control.MethodsThe role of AKR on Plasmodium berghei infection and on the fitness and reproduction of the main malaria vector, Anopheles gambiae was characterized by evaluating the effect of akr gene knockdown or vaccination with recombinant mosquito AKR on parasite infection levels, fertility and mortality of female mosquitoes.ResultsGene knockdown by RNA interference in mosquitoes suggested a role for akr in mosquito survival and fertility. Vaccination with recombinant Aedes albopictus AKR reduced parasite infection in mosquitoes fed on immunized mice when compared to controls.ConclusionsThese results showed that recombinant AKR could be used to develop vaccines for malaria control. If effective, AKR-based vaccines could be used to immunize wildlife reservoir hosts and/or humans to reduce the risk of pathogen transmission. However, these vaccines need to be evaluated under field conditions to characterize their effect on vector populations and pathogen infection and transmission.
Highlights
The control of vector-borne diseases is important to improve human and animal health worldwide
Malaria, one of the world’s deadliest diseases, is caused by protozoan parasites of the genus Plasmodium which are transmitted by Anopheles spp. mosquitoes [1]
Anopheles gambiae infection with Plasmodium berghei To obtain An. gambiae mosquitoes infected with P. berghei for gene expression and gene knockdown analyses, four weeks old female CD1 mice obtained from the Instituto de Higiene e Medicina Tropical (IHMT) animal house were intraperitoneally inoculated with 107 P. berghei parasitized red blood cells
Summary
The control of vector-borne diseases is important to improve human and animal health worldwide. Methodologies for diagnosis and integrated vector control by various physical and chemicals methods have been improved or implemented and research to develop vaccines against malaria is being carried on by Preliminary results obtained in arthropod vectors with impact on human and animal health have shown that protective antigens may be used for the development of vaccines against both vectors and pathogens they transmit [10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18] Among these antigen candidates, tick Subolesin (SUB) and the ortholog in insects, Akirin (AKR), have been used to induce a protective response in vaccinated hosts for the control of hard (Ixodes spp., Rhipicephalus spp., Amblyomma americanum, Dermacentor variabilis) and soft (Ornithodoros spp.) ticks, mosquitoes (Aedes albopictus), sand flies (Phlebotomus perniciosus), poultry red mites (Dermanyssus gallinae) and sea lice (Caligus rogercresseyi) infestations and tick infection with Anaplasma phagocytophilum, A. marginale, Babesia bigemina and Borrelia burgdorferi [15,19,20,21]. These results suggest that vaccines based on AKR/SUB antigens could control vector-borne diseases by a dual effect on vector populations and vector capacity [15,16]
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