Exploring the relationship between susceptibility to canine leishmaniosis and anti-Phlebotomus perniciosus saliva antibodies in Ibizan hounds and dogs of other breeds in Mallorca, Spain

Abstract

Background: Canine leishmaniosis caused by Leishmania infantum is a neglected zoonosis transmitted by sand flies like Phlebotomus perniciosus. Clinical signs and disease susceptibility vary according to various factors, including host immune response and breed. In particular, Ibizan hounds appear more resistant. This immunocompetence could be attributed to a more frequent exposure to uninfected sand flies, eliciting a stronger anti-sand fly saliva antibody response. Methods: This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of anti-P. perniciosus saliva antibodies in Ibizan hounds and dogs of other breeds in the Leishmania-endemic area of Mallorca, Spain, and to correlate these antibody levels with clinical, immunological and parasitological parameters. Anti-sand fly saliva IgG was examined in 47 Ibizan hounds and 45 dogs of other breeds using three methods: P. perniciosus whole salivary gland homogenate (SGH) ELISA; recombinant protein rSP03B ELISA; and rSP03B rapid tests (RT). Additionally, diagnostic performance was evaluated between methods. Results: Results indicate significantly higher anti-SGH antibodies (P = 0.0061) and a trend for more positive SGH ELISA and RT results in Ibizan hounds compared to other breeds. General linear model analysis also found breed to be a significant factor in SGH ELISA units and a marginally significant factor in RT result. Although infection rates were similar between groups, Ibizan hounds included significantly more IFN-γ producers (P = 0.0122) and papular dermatitis cases (P < 0.0001). Older age and L. infantum seropositivity were also considered significant factors in sand fly saliva antibody levels according to at least one test. Fair agreement was found between all three tests, with the highest value between SGH and rSP03B RT. Conclusions: To our knowledge, this is the first study elaborating the relationship between anti-P. perniciosus saliva antibodies and extensive clinical data in dogs in an endemic area. Our results suggest that Ibizan hounds experience a higher frequency of exposure to sand flies and have a stronger cellular immune response to L. infantum infection than other breed dogs. Additional sampling is needed to confirm results, but anti-P. perniciosus saliva antibodies appear to negatively correlate with susceptibility to L. infantum infection and could possibly contribute to the resistance observed in Ibizan hounds.

Seroprevalence and Risk Factors Associated with Canine Leishmaniasis in Egypt

“…German Shephered was more likely to get an infection than other examined breeds. This result ties well with previous studies [42] wherein certain breeds such as German Shephered and Rottweiler are more susceptible to being infected. It has been suggested that the breed's relative immunocompetence derived from a cellular, parasite-specific immune response, which is linked to clinical wellness [43].…”

Is the Prevalence of Leishmania infantum Linked to Breeds in Dogs? Characterization of Seropositive Dogs in Ibiza

“…Although the sample sizes were different between the breeds, the robustness of our statistical analysis indicates that differences exist. However, other authors conducted similar studies with similar sample sizes, and the results obtained are comparable to those of our study [20,49,50]. Regarding canine breeds, the high seroprevalence found in Boxers and Doberman Pinschers, 39.13% and 42.86%, respectively, agree with other study results [2,41,49,51], where authors attributed the genetic susceptibility and high prevalence of the Boxer breed to the TAG-8-141 haplotype.…”

“…There are some studies on the prevalence of L. infantum on Mediterranean islands [ 18 , 19 ]. Burnham et al, (2020) studied the relationship between anti- Phlebotomus pernicious saliva antibodies in Ibizan hounds and susceptibility to canine leishmaniosis without analyzing seroprevalence data in different dog breeds from the Mediterranean coast of Spain [ 20 ]. The global seroprevalence in domestic dogs of the Spanish Mediterranean islands was estimated at approximately 57.1% [ 21 ].…”

Antibodies to Leishmania in naturally exposed domestic ferrets (Mustela putorius furo) in Spain

“…During blood feeding, saliva inoculated stimulates a species-specific antibody response because this saliva comprises proteins with high immunogenicity property (Rohousova et al, 2005;Vlkova et al, 2011). The Detection of anti-sand fly saliva antibodies in canine samples are mainly based on ELISA techniques that use different types of antigens, including the salivary gland homogenate (SGH), which is considered as the gold standard (Burnham et al, 2020), or other recombinant protein such as yellow-related protein rSP03B (Kostalova et al, 2015). Both type of antibodies recognizing SGH and rSP03B are associated to sand fly abundance and it is characterized by a seasonal dynamics of the P. perniciosus: increasing anti-salivary antibodies during summer time and decreasing during winter months when sand flies are not active (Kostalova et al, 2015).…”