Lack of protection of pre-immunization with saliva of long-term colonized Phlebotomus papatasi against experimental challenge with Leishmania major and saliva of wild-caught P. papatasi.

Sami Ben Hadj Ahmed (1, 2) , Belhassen Kaabi (1) , Ifhem Chelbi (1) , Mohamed Derbali (1) , Saifedine Cherni (1) , Dhafer Laouini (1) , Elyes Zhioua (1)

1 Institut Pasteur de Tunis
2 Department of Biology

Immunity to saliva of Phlebotomus papatasi protects against Leishmania major infection as determined by co-inoculation of parasites with salivary gland homogenates (SGHs) of this vector. These results were obtained with long-term colonized female P. papatasi. We investigated the effect of pre-immunization with SGH of long-term colonized P. papatasi against L. major infection co-inoculated with SGH of wild-caught P. papatasi. Our results showed that pre-exposure to SGH of long-term, colonized P. papatasi do not confer protection against infection with L. major co-inoculated with SGH of wild-caught P. papatasi. These preliminary results strongly suggest that the effectiveness of a vector saliva-based vaccine derived from colonized sand fly populations may be affected by inconsistent immune response after natural exposure.

Domains: Life Sciences [q-bio]; Microbiology and Parasitology

Sami Ben Hadj Ahmed, Belhassen Kaabi, Ifhem Chelbi, Mohamed Derbali, Saifedine Cherni, et al.. Lack of protection of pre-immunization with saliva of long-term colonized Phlebotomus papatasi against experimental challenge with Leishmania major and saliva of wild-caught P. papatasi.. American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 2010, 83 (3), pp.512-4. ⟨10.4269/ajtmh.2010.09-0687⟩. ⟨pasteur-00620991⟩