The immunomodulatory properties of lipophosphoglycans (LPG) from New World species of Leishmania have been assessed in Leishmania infantum and Leishmania braziliensis, the causative agents of visceral and cutaneous leishmaniasis, respectively. This glycoconjugate is highly polymorphic among species with variation in sugars that branch off the conserved Gal(β1,4)Man(α1)-PO4 backbone of repeat units. Here, the immunomodulatory activity of LPGs from Leishmania amazonensis, the causative agent of diffuse cutaneous leishmaniasis, was evaluated in two strains from Brazil. One strain (PH8) was originally isolated from the sand fly and the other (Josefa) was isolated from a human case. The ability of purified LPGs from both strains was investigated during in vitro interaction with peritoneal murine macrophages and CHO cells and in vivo infection with Lutzomyia migonei. In peritoneal murine macrophages, the LPGs from both strains activated TLR4. Both LPGs equally activate MAPKs and the NF-κB inhibitor p-IκBα, but were not able to translocate NF-κB. In vivo experiments with sand flies showed that both stains were able to sustain infection in L. migonei. A preliminary biochemical analysis indicates intraspecies variation in the LPG sugar moieties. However, they did not result in different activation profiles of the innate immune system. Also those polymorphisms did not affect infectivity to the sand fly.

Abstract. The effect of blood meals from humans and seven domestic, wild, or laboratory animals (dogs, horses, chickens, rats, opossums, mice, and hamsters) on the development of Leishmania braziliensis and L. amazonensis was studied in the sand fly Lutzomyia migonei. The development of L. braziliensis and L. amazonensis exhibited peripylarian and suprapylarian patterns of development, respectively, in the sand fly gut with all blood meals tested. The blood meal sources influenced the infection rate of the sand flies. In both the Leishmania species, the highest parasite density was obtained with blood from wild rats followed by skunk, human, and horse. The epidemiological significance of these observations may be related to the distribution of leishmaniasis and needs to be evaluated further.

Triatominae are widely recognised for their role as vectors of Trypanosoma cruzi. One of the main biological characteristics of this subfamily is their obligate haematophagous condition. However, previous studies on Belminus herreri and Belminus ferroae suggested that cockroaches are their principal hosts in domiciles. Due to this peculiar behaviour, the aim of this study was to analyse several demographic and reproductive parameters of B. ferroae fed on three different hosts (mice, cockroaches and Rhodnius prolixus) and relate B. ferroae fitness to these alternative hosts. The cohorts were reared under constant conditions. The egg hatching rate was similar for cohorts fed on cockroaches (69.4%) and R. prolixus (63.8%), but was much lower for the cohort fed on mice (16%). The development time from the nymph to adult stage and the average age of first reproduction (α) presented lower values in the cohort fed on cockroaches, which is consistent with the higher population growth rate associated with this host. Demographic parameters [intrinsic rate of natural increase, finite rate of population growth, net reproductive rate and damping ratio] showed statistically significant differences between the cohorts. Analysis of the life history of B. ferroae revealed a higher fitness related to the cockroach. The implications of these results for the origin of the subfamily are discussed.

Frequent individual observations od different stages of Rhodnius prolixus exposed to Trypanosoma rangeli, revealed a higher susceptibility to infection in the bugs exposed during the two first instars. The mortality rate in infected bugs was significantly higher than in controls, indicating that the parasite was responsible for the majority of deaths. An analysis of the mortality distribution, per instar, is presented. Statistical analysis of deaths among the different infected instars, showed that T. rangeli produces its pathological effect in any stage of R. prolixus independently of its susceptibility to the parasite. The survival to adult decreased in all the infected instar bugs. A significant longer time to reach the adult stage was observed in the infected bugs when compared with controls, excepting for specimens exposed in the third instar. The epidemiological significance of the present results is discussed.

No abstract

The exploitation of new wilderness areas with crops is increasing and traditional crop substitution has been modified by new more productive crops. The results show the anthropogenic disturbance effect on the sandflies population and Leishmania transmission in endemic areas of Venezuela. Three agroecosystems with variable degrees of ecological disturbance, forest (conserved), cacao (fragmented), and orangery (disturbed), were selected. Four methods to sandfly capture were used; the specimens were identified and infected with Leishmania. Diversity, population structure, ANOVA, Tukey test, and simple correlation analysis were carried out. Shannon traps were able to capture 94.7% of the total sandflies, while CDC light traps, Sticky traps, and direct suction just captured 2.2%, 1.2%, and 0.9%, respectively. The results showed the effect of ecological disturbance degree on the composition of sandflies and population structure, revealing a dominance level increased but decreased on the diversity and richness of sandflies species in the greatest ecological disturbance area in relation to areas with less organic disturbance. Environments more disturbed cause adaptability of certain species such as Lutzomyia gomezi and Lutzomyia walkeri. These changes on the composition of sandflies population and structure emerging species could cause increasing of leishmaniasis transmission.

Introducción. La leishmaniasis es un grave problema de salud pública en muchas partes de América. Las poblaciones expuestas a la leishmaniasis carecen de información de la enfermedad, razón por la cual es necesario realizar intervenciones y evaluaciones educativas que contribuyan a que el control tenga un mayor impacto. Objetivo. Determinar el nivel de conocimientos y prácticas sobre la leishmaniasis tegumentaria y la fauna de flebótomos en las comunidades endémicas de Bolero Alto y Bajo del municipio Pinto Salina del Estado Mérida, Venezuela, entre septiembre de 2006 y julio de 2007. Materiales y métodos. Se elaboró una encuesta en la cual se incluyeron aspectos epidemiológicos, de prevención y de control de la leishmaniasis. Se aplicaron a personas mayores de siete años en viviendas seleccionadas aleatoriamente. También se realizaron capturas intradomiciliarias y peridomiciliarias de flebotominos vectores. Resultados. Más del 68% de los individuos de las comunidades poseía un nivel de conocimientos considerado como insuficiente; los aspectos de mayor desconocimiento fueron en relación con la transmisión y la prevención. Se detectaron siete especies de Lutzomyia de importancia epidemiológica: L youngi, L. ovallesi, L. gomezi, L. walkeri, L. panamensis, L. punctigeniculata y L. venezuelensis. Las especies predominantes para ambas comunidades fueron L. youngi con más del 55% y L. ovallesi con más del 24% del total de especímenes capturados. Conclusión. Se determinó un bajo nivel de conocimientos sobre la leishmaniasis en los pobladores de las comunidades endémicas estudiadas, lo cual se debe tener en cuenta en el desarrollo de alternativas educativas de impacto en el control complementario de la enfermedad. Las mismas deben dirigirse a cubrir las deficiencias de conocimientos más acentuadas en la población, enfocadas a evitar las picaduras del insecto vector.

The effect of blood meals from humans and seven domestic, wild, or laboratory animals (dogs, horses, chickens, rats, opossums, mice, and hamsters) on the development of Leishmania braziliensis and L. amazonensis was studied in the sand fly Lutzomyia migonei. The development of L. braziliensis and L. amazonensis exhibited peripylarian and suprapylarian patterns of development, respectively, in the sand fly gut with all blood meals tested. The blood meal sources influenced the infection rate of the sand flies. In both the Leishmania species, the highest parasite density was obtained with blood from wild rats followed by skunk, human, and horse. The epidemiological significance of these observations may be related to the distribution of leishmaniasis and needs to be evaluated further.