Control of infestations by Ixodes ricinus tick larvae in rabbits vaccinated with aquaporin recombinant antigens.
Tick-borne diseases greatly impact human and animal health worldwide, and vaccines are an environmentally friendly alternative to acaricides for their control. Recent results have suggested that aquaporin (AQP) water channels have a key function during tick feeding and development, and constitute good candidate antigens for the control of tick infestations.



Here we describe the effect of vaccination with the Ixodes ricinus AQP1 (IrAQP) and a tick AQP conserved region (CoAQP) on I. ricinus tick larval mortality, feeding and molting.



We demonstrated that vaccination with IrAQP and CoAQP had an efficacy of 32% and 80%, respectively on the control of I. ricinus larvae by considering the cumulative effect on reducing tick survival and molting.



The effect of the AQP vaccines on larval survival and molting is essential to reduce tick infestations, and extended previous results on the effect of R. microplus AQP1 on the control of cattle tick infestations. These results supports that AQP, and particularly CoAQP, might be a candidate protective antigen for the control of different tick species.
SaBio, Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos IREC-CSIC-UCLM-JCCM, Ronda de Toledo s/n, 13005 Ciudad Real, Spain.
Marinela
M
Contreras
SaBio, Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos IREC-CSIC-UCLM-JCCM, Ronda de Toledo s/n, 13005 Ciudad Real, Spain; Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, Center for Veterinary Health Sciences, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078, USA. Electronic address: jose_delafuente@yahoo.com.
José
J
de la Fuente
D000818:Animals; D000941:Antigens / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D051398:Aquaporin 1 / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D060829:Arthropod Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D018884:Ixodes; D007814:Larva / Q000276:immunology / Q000502:physiology; D011817:Rabbits; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000276:immunology; D048494:Rhipicephalus / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D013984:Tick Infestations / Q000517:prevention & control*; D017282:Tick-Borne Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control*; D014611:Vaccination; D014612:Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D014614:Vaccines, Synthetic / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000276:immunology
D000941:Antigens; D060829:Arthropod Proteins; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D014612:Vaccines; D014614:Vaccines, Synthetic; D051398:Aquaporin 1
Aquaporin; Immunology; Ixodes ricinus; Tick; Vaccine