title: Vasoconstriction induced by salivary gland extracts from ixodid ticks.
abstract: In their quest for blood, most haematophagous parasites secrete vasodilators in their saliva to counter the host haemostatic response of vasoconstriction. Surprisingly, salivary gland extracts from adult female Dermacentor reticulatus and Rhipicephalus appendiculatus ticks induced constriction in a rat femoral artery model; males induced vasoconstriction or vasodilation depending on the time of feeding. Based on comparative HPLC fractionation, the active compounds inducing vasoconstriction do not appear to be prostaglandins (which ticks normally use as vasodilators). Vasoconstriction may be unique to ixodid ticks, helping them control blood flow during their prolonged blood-feeding of up to 10 days or more.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Zoology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravská cesta 9, 845 06 Bratislava, Slovak Republic.
authors.forename: Danica
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pekáriková
authors.affiliation: Institute of Zoology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravská cesta 9, 845 06 Bratislava, Slovak Republic.
authors.forename: Petra
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rajská
authors.affiliation: Institute of Zoology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravská cesta 9, 845 06 Bratislava, Slovak Republic.
authors.forename: Mária
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kazimírová
authors.affiliation: Institute of Normal and Pathological Physiology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Sienkiewiczova 1, 813 71 Bratislava, Slovak Republic.
authors.forename: Olga
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Pecháňová
authors.affiliation: Institute of Zoology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravská cesta 9, 845 06 Bratislava, Slovak Republic.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Takáč
authors.affiliation: Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Wallingford, Oxfordshire, UK; Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, UK. Electronic address: pat.nuttall@zoo.ox.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Patricia A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Nuttall
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D003870:Dermacentor; D005260:Female; D005263:Femoral Artery / Q000187:drug effects*; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D048494:Rhipicephalus; D012469:Salivary Glands / Q000737:chemistry; D014020:Tissue Extracts / Q000737:chemistry; D014661:Vasoconstriction; D014662:Vasoconstrictor Agents / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D014020:Tissue Extracts; D014662:Vasoconstrictor Agents
keywords: Rat femoral artery; Salivary glands; Tick; Vasoactivity; Vasoconstriction; Vasodilation