title: The protective effect against Leishmania infection conferred by sand fly bites is limited to short-term exposure.
abstract: Under laboratory conditions, hosts exposed twice to sand fly saliva are protected against severe leishmaniasis. However, people in endemic areas are exposed to the vector over a long term and may experience sand fly-free periods. Therefore, we exposed mice long- or short-term to Phlebotomus duboscqi bites, followed by Leishmania major infection either immediately or after a sand fly-free period. We showed that protection against leishmaniasis is limited to short-term exposure to sand flies immediately before infection. Our results may explain the persistence of leishmaniasis in endemic areas and should be taken into account when designing anti-Leishmania vaccines based on sand fly saliva.
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague, Vinicna 7, 128 44 Prague 2, Czech Republic. rohousova@seznam.cz
authors.forename: Iva
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Rohoušová
authors.forename: Jitka
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hostomská
authors.forename: Michaela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vlková
authors.forename: Tetyana
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kobets
authors.forename: Marie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lipoldová
authors.forename: Petr
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Volf
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001733:Bites and Stings / Q000276:immunology* / Q000469:parasitology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007303:Insect Vectors / Q000276:immunology / Q000469:parasitology* / Q000502:physiology; D018320:Leishmania major / Q000502:physiology*; D016773:Leishmaniasis, Cutaneous / Q000276:immunology / Q000469:parasitology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D010691:Phlebotomus / Q000276:immunology / Q000469:parasitology / Q000502:physiology*; D012463:Saliva / Q000276:immunology; D013997:Time Factors