Lutzomyia longipalpis: an update on this sand fly vector

Abstract

Lutzomyia longipalpis is the most important vector of Leishmania infantum, the etiological agent of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) in the New World. It is a permissive vector susceptible to infection with several Leishmania species. One of the advantages that favors the study of this sand fl y is the possibility of colonization in the laboratory. For this reason, several researchers around the world use this species as a model for different subjects including biology, insecticides testing, host-parasite interaction, physiology, genetics, proteomics, molecular biology, and saliva among others. In 2003, we published our fi rst review (Soares & Turco 2003) on this vector covering several aspects of Lu. longipalpis. This current review summarizes what has been published between 2003-2020. During this period, modern approaches were incorporated following the development of more advanced and sensitive techniques to assess this sand fl y.

Species, Natural Leishmania spp. Detection and Blood Meal Sources of Phlebotomine Sandflies (Diptera: Psychodidae: Phlebotominae) in Peridomiciles from a Leishmaniases Endemic Area of Brazil

“…(Lu.) longipalpis appears to be completely adapted to the anthropic environment, as already observed in other areas [27,38]. Despite the presence of TL and VL proven vectors, some other species found also deserve attention; Ev.…”

“…(Lu.) longipalpis is a confirmed L. (L.) infantum vector, this sandfly species is also considered a permissive vector, since it is susceptible to infection by others Leishmania species, including L. (L.) amazonensis [38,44,45]. In this line, the permissivity of Ev.…”

cAMP: A second messenger involved in the mechanism of midgut alkalinization in Lutzomyia longipalpis

“…Among the anautogenous insects from suborder Nematocera, males and females ingest sugar‐rich solutions obtained from plants, but females also need to ingest blood in order to activate their reproductive system (Dillon & Lane, 1993; Dillon & El‐Kordy, 1997; Soares & Turco, 2003; Hansen et al ., 2004; Rêgo & Soares, 2021). To be able to process such different nutrients, the digestion must be finely regulated, and the midgut pH is one of the main parameters that need to be tightly controlled.…”

Sand flies: Basic information on the vectors of leishmaniasis and their interactions with Leishmania parasites

“…Importantly, although contradictory, these studies both suggest the impact of midgut proteases in the establishment of Leishmania parasites within the vector (either directly or indirectly); this notion is further supported by studies focusing on other vector-parasite pairings ( Lu. longipalpis – L. mexicana / L. infantum ) showing that Leishmania parasites thrive after the downregulation of the proteolytic activity in the sand fly midgut 70 – 72 . Of note, procyclic promastigotes are also the first replicative form found within the sand fly vector, increasing parasite numbers, important to the next step of the vector infection cycle 59 .…”