Publications
| Title | Abstract | Year Filter | PMID(sorted descending) Filter |
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| the angiotensin-converting enzyme (ace) gene family of anopheles gambiae. | members of the m2 family of peptidases, related to mammalian angiotensin converting enzyme (ace), play important roles in regulating a number of physiological processes. as more invertebrate genomes are sequenced, there is increasing evidence of a variety of m2 peptidase genes, even within a single species. the function of these ace-like proteins is largely unknown. sequencing of the a. gambiae genome has revealed a number of ace-like genes but probable errors in the ensembl annotation have left ... | 2005 | 16329762 |
| characterization of a blood activated chitinolytic system in the midgut of the sand fly vectors lutzomyia longipalpis and phlebotomus papatasi. | we characterized a cdna from phlebotomus papatasi, ppchit1, which encodes a midgut specific chitinase and show the presence of a functional, blood-induced chitinolytic system in sand flies. ppchit1 is detected only in the midgut and is regulated by blood feeding. a recombinant protein (rppchit1) produced in hek 293-f cells exhibited a similar activity profile to that found in the native protein against several specific substrates, including an oligomeric glycol chitin and synthetic 4-methyl-umbe ... | 2005 | 16313571 |
| occurrence of neospora caninum in dogs and its correlation with visceral leishmaniasis in the urban area of campo grande, mato grosso do sul, brazil. | neospora caninum is an obligate intracellular protozoan that can infect domestic and wild canids, as well as ruminants and equines, and is described as causing neuromuscular alteration and death in dogs. visceral leishmaniasis (vl) is an infectious disease that affects both humans and animals, being caused by protozoan parasites of the genus leishmania, of which leishmania (leishmania) chagasi is found in brazil -- transmitted by sand flies, such as lutzomyia longipalpis, in most of the american ... | 2006 | 16310954 |
| experimental infection of leishmania (l.) chagasi in a cell line derived from lutzomyia longipalpis (diptera:psychodidae). | the present work describes the in vitro infection of a cell line lulo, derived from lutzomyia longipalpis embryonic tissue, by leishmania chagasi promastigotes. this infection process is compared with a parallel one developed using the j774 cell line. the l. chagasi mh/co/84/ci-044b strain was used for experimental infection in two cell lines. the cells were seeded on glass coverslips in 24-well plates to reach a final number of 2 x 10(5) cells/well. parasites were added to the adhered lulo and ... | 2005 | 16302061 |
| modulation of murine cellular immune response and cytokine production by salivary gland lysate of three sand fly species. | saliva of sand flies (diptera: phlebotominae) plays an important role in transmission of leishmania parasites by modulating host immune response. however, because of the different protein compositions of saliva, the immunomodulatory effects may vary among sand fly species. we have therefore analysed and compared the immunomodulation effects of salivary gland lysate (sgl) of three different sand flies. spleen cells from balb/c mice were incubated with sgl of phlebotomus papatasi, p. sergenti or l ... | 2005 | 16255746 |
| rodent malaria parasites plasmodium chabaudi and p. vinckei do not increase their rates of gametocytogenesis in response to mosquito probing. | several vector-borne infectious agents facultatively alter their life history strategies in response to local vector densities. some evidence suggests that malaria parasites invest more heavily in transmission stage production (gametocytogenesis) when vectors are present. such a strategy could rapidly increase malaria transmission rates, particularly when adult mosquitoes begin to appear after dry seasons. however, in contrast to a recent experiment with a rodent malaria (plasmodium chabaudi), w ... | 2005 | 16243686 |
| (1s,3s,7r)-3-methyl-alpha-himachalene from the male sandfly lutzomyia longipalpis (diptera: psychodidae) induces neurophysiological responses and attracts both males and females. | lutzomyia longipalpis adult males form leks on or near hosts and release (1s,3s,7r)-3-methyl-alpha-himachalene from their tergal glands to lure females to the same site for mating and feeding. here we have examined whether the male-produced attractant could also serve as a male aggregation stimulus. high resolution chiral capillary gas chromatography analysis of male tergal gland extracts, synthetic (1s,3s,7r)-3-methyl-alpha-himachalene, and a synthetic mixture of all isomers of 3-methyl-alpha-h ... | 2005 | 16226273 |
| male sex pheromones and the phylogeographic structure of the lutzomyia longipalpis species complex (diptera: psychodidae) from brazil and venezuela. | lutzomyia longipalpis, a sibling complex, is the main vector of leishmania chagasi/infantum. discriminating between siblings is important as they may differ in vectorial capacity. lutzomyia longipalpis populations display distinct male sex pheromone chemotypes. we investigated the phylogeographic pattern of variation at microsatellite loci from 11 populations from brazil and venezuela related to their male pheromone. temporal genetic differentiation was mostly not significant at the same site. s ... | 2005 | 16222018 |
| garsa: genomic analysis resources for sequence annotation. | summary: growth of genome data and analysis possibilities have brought new levels of difficulty for scientists to understand, integrate and deal with all this ever-increasing information. in this scenario, garsa has been conceived aiming to facilitate the tasks of integrating, analyzing and presenting genomic information from several bioinformatics tools and genomic databases, in a flexible way. garsa is a user-friendly web-based system designed to analyze genomic data in the context of a pipeli ... | 2005 | 16210424 |
| lutzomyia longipalpis in clorinda, formosa province, an area of potential visceral leishmaniasis transmission in argentina. | phlebotomine captures were performed during 2004 in clorinda, argentina. clorinda is located across the branches of the paraguay river in front of asunción city, paraguay. reports of canine and human visceral leishmaniasis in asunción have been increasing since 1997, however neither leishmaniasis cases nor sand flies were ever recorded from clorinda. light traps were located in migration paths (bridges, port), and peridomestic environments of clorinda and surrounding localities. lutzomyia longip ... | 2005 | 16184223 |
| [aspects of the ecology and behaviour of phlebotomines in endemic area for visceral leishmaniasis in state of minas gerais]. | studies on the behavioral and feeding habits of some species of phlebotominae sand flies have contributed to the comprehension of the epidemiology of leishmaniasis. in the present work, systematic captures were performed monthly in the municipality of porteirinha (mg) using 28 light traps (cdc) from january to december 2002. fourteen different species of phlebotomine were captured in a total of 1,408 specimens. the highest percentage of individuals (53.3%) was collected in the peridomicile again ... | 2005 | 16172760 |
| tick saliva is a potent inhibitor of endothelial cell proliferation and angiogenesis. | we report for the first time that saliva of the hard tick and lyme disease vector, ixodes scapularis, is a potent inhibitor of angiogenesis. saliva (< or = 1:500 dilutions) or salivary gland (0.1-0.5 pairs/assay) dose-dependently inhibits microvascular endothelial cell (mvec) proliferation. inhibition was also detected with the saliva of the cattle tick boophilus microplus but not with the salivary gland of anopheles gambiae, an. stephensi, lutzomyia longipalpis, phlebotomus papatasi, aedes aegy ... | 2005 | 16113800 |
| the transcriptome of the salivary glands of the female western black-legged tick ixodes pacificus (acari: ixodidae). | sequencing of an ixodes pacificus salivary gland cdna library yielded 1068 sequences with an average undetermined nucleotide of 1.9% and an average length of 487 base pairs. assembly of the expressed sequence tags yielded 557 contigs, 138 of which appear to code for secreted peptides or proteins based on translation of a putative signal peptide. based on the blastx similarity of these contigs to 66 matches of ixodes scapularis peptide sequences, only 58% sequence identity was found, indicating a ... | 2005 | 16102420 |
| structure and distribution of sensilla on maxillary palps and labella of lutzomyia longipalpis (diptera: psychodidae) sand flies. | the typology, number, size, and distribution pattern of labellar and palpal sensilla of male and female lutzomyia longipalpis (lutz and neiva, 1912) sand flies were analyzed by scanning electron and light microscopy, contributing to the construction of a gustatory and olfactory map in this important vector species. about 35 trichoid sensilla, sorted into three different classes according to their lengths, are present on the two labellar lobes. five distinct structures are observed in the maxilla ... | 2005 | 16003785 |
| effect of salivary gland extract of leishmania vector, lutzomyia longipalpis, on leukocyte migration in ova-induced immune peritonitis. | salivary gland extracts (sge) from lutzomyia longipalpis potentate l. major infection by inducing a th2 immune response. however, the effect of sge on the effector phase of immune response is not known. herein, we demonstrate that sge inhibited neutrophil migration in ovalbumin (ova)-induced peritonitis in immunized mice. sge pretreatment of mice inhibited ova-induced cd4+ and cd8+ t lymphocyte migration. the ova-induced production of tnf-alpha, il-1beta and leukotriene b4 (ltb4), neutrophil che ... | 2005 | 15997469 |
| detection of species-specific antibody response of humans and mice bitten by sand flies. | sand fly saliva plays an important role in leishmania transmission. we characterized the host antibody response to saliva from 3 sand fly species. specific igg was observed in sera from experimentally bitten mice as well as in sera from individuals living in the endemic area of leishmania tropica in sanliurfa, turkey. sera of sanliurfa inhabitants showed high igg levels against saliva of phlebotomus sergenti and p. papatasi, the 2 most abundant sand fly species in this area, but did not react wi ... | 2005 | 15991492 |
| genetic homogeneity within leishmania (l.) infantum isolated from human and dogs: the relationship with the sandfly fauna distribution in endemic areas of nueva esparta state, venezuela. | leishmania infantum has been described as a highly polymorphic group of parasites, responsible for visceral leishmaniasis and cutaneous leishmaniasis. in this paper we report the life-cycle of l. (l.) infantum in an endemic area of visceral leishmaniasis in venezuela, by using molecular diagnosis and characterization of parasites isolated from dogs, humans with visceral leishmaniasis and sand flies. the molecular characterization was carried out by use of kdna restriction analysis, dot-blot hybr ... | 2005 | 15977897 |
| importance of lutzomyia longipalpis in the dynamics of transmission of canine visceral leishmaniasis in the endemic area of porteirinha municipality, minas gerais, brazil. | a study of lutzomyia longipalpis (lutz and neiva, 1912) (diptera: psychodidae), the primary vector of american visceral leishmaniasis (avl), and the canine form of the disease, was carried out in porteirinha. the city is situated in the northern part of the brazilian state of minas gerais and is an endemic area of avl. systematic phlebotomine captures were performed in seven districts with previously reported cases of canine visceral leishmaniasis, during 2 years (january 2000--december 2001). a ... | 2005 | 15975718 |
| a sensitive flow cytometric methodology for studying the binding of l. chagasi to canine peritoneal macrophages. | the leishmania promastigote-macrophage interaction occurs through the association of multiple receptors on the biological membrane surfaces. the success of the parasite infection is dramatically dependent on this early interaction in the vertebrate host, which permits or not the development of the disease. in this study we propose a novel methodology using flow cytometry to study this interaction, and compare it with a previously described "in vitro" binding assay. | 2005 | 15913461 |
| a role for adenosine deaminase in drosophila larval development. | adenosine deaminase (ada) is an enzyme present in all organisms that catalyzes the irreversible deamination of adenosine and deoxyadenosine to inosine and deoxyinosine. both adenosine and deoxyadenosine are biologically active purines that can have a deep impact on cellular physiology; notably, ada deficiency in humans causes severe combined immunodeficiency. we have established a drosophila model to study the effects of altered adenosine levels in vivo by genetic elimination of adenosine deamin ... | 2005 | 15907156 |
| sand fly specificity of saliva-mediated protective immunity in leishmania amazonensis-balb/c mouse model. | immune response of balb/c mice to the salivary antigens of sand flies was found to vary with different species used, i.e. phlebotomus papatasi, phlebotomus sergenti and lutzomyia longipalpis. exposure of mice to bites of these sand flies elicits production of antibodies, which are largely specific to different saliva antigens previously identified as unique to the respective fly species. when immunized intradermally (i.d.) with salivary gland lysates (sgl) of l. longipalpis, balb/c mice develope ... | 2005 | 15866511 |
| geographic and voltinism differentiation among north american ostrinia nubilalis (european corn borer) mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase haplotypes. | dna sequence of european corn borer, ostrinia nubilalis (hubner) (lepidoptera: crambidae), mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase i (cox1) and ii (cox2) genes were characterized and used for population genetic analysis. twenty-six point mutations were identified from a 2,156 bp dna sequence alignment. the frequency of polymorphic cox1ddei and haeiii, and cox2 sau3ai and mspi restriction sites were determined from 1,414 individuals by polymerase chain reaction restriction fragment length polymorphism ... | 2004 | 15861250 |
| [visceral leishmaniasis: a study on phlebotomine sand flies and canine infection in montes claros, state of minas gerais]. | visceral leishmaniasis in brazil was initially associated with rural areas. however, due to several environmental modifications such as deforestation, urbanization and intense migratory processes, there has been an expansion of endemic areas, leading to urbanization of the disease, mainly in the central and northeastern regions of brazil. in the municipality of montes claros, located in the north of the state of minas gerais, an epidemiological survey on vl was carried out. a canine serological ... | 2005 | 15821789 |
| [enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay biotin/avidin method standardization, for identification of lutzomyia (lutzomyia) longipalpis bloodmeals (lutz & neiva, 1912)]. | bloodmeals taken by insects constitute an important parameter for clarifying aspects of the transmission of zoonoses, including leishmaniases. immunological assays can be used to investigate the attraction of vectors to animals, which may be hosts of these parasitoses. the objective of this study was to standardize a sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and titer samples with different time periods of digestion, in laboratory-bred lutzomyia longipalpis fed on rats. in the light of the high ... | 2004 | 15765591 |
| inflammatory cell infiltration and high antibody production in balb/c mice caused by natural exposure to lutzomyia longipalpis bites. | sand flies inject saliva into the mammalian host when probing for a blood meal. understanding the initial vertebrate reactions against sand fly saliva is important for possible interventions because these insects transmit diseases to humans and other animals. little is known of these reactions to new world sand flies. repeated exposure of balb/c mice to lutzomyia longipalpis bites leads to local inflammatory cell infiltration comprised of neutrophils, macrophages, and eosinophils. total igg and ... | 2005 | 15728873 |
| participation of rhipicephalus sanguineus (acari: ixodidae) in the epidemiology of canine visceral leishmaniasis. | the vectorial competence of the tick rhipicephalus sanguineus is discussed in relation to the epidemiology of canine visceral leishmaniasis, taking into account its strict association with dogs and the low indices of natural infection presented by its known vector, the phlebotomine sand fly lutzomyia longipalpis. in order to evaluate natural infection by leishmania chagasi and the infectivity of these parasites in the tick, 39 specimens (6 females, 11 males and 22 nymphs) of r. sanguineus were r ... | 2004 | 15725545 |
| a fourth chemotype of lutzomyia longipalpis (diptera: psychodidae) from jaibas, minas gerais state, brazil. | lutzomyia longipalpis (lutz and neiva) is a species complex of lutzomyia pseudolongipalpis (arrivillaga and feliciangeli) and at least three other as yet undefined siblings. isozyme and mitochondrial studies of allopatric populations across central and south america have suggested the presence of four "clades" that have been hypothesized to have arisen mainly because of geographical isolation mechanisms. parallel studies of sexual behavior as well as cross-mating and genetic analysis, of both al ... | 2004 | 15605640 |
| trypanosomatid flagellum biogenesis: arl-3a is involved in several species. | overexpression in leishmania amazonensis promastigotes of the gtpase-deficient small g protein ldarl-3a-q70l specifically provokes the loss of the flagella without affecting cell viability and body size. however, motility is lost and, remarkably, cells do not survive in the insect vector lutzomyia longipalpis gut, leading to interruption of parasite transmission. we report here that overexpression of the same protein in leishmania major, leishmania donovani, and crithidia fasciculata also led to ... | 2004 | 15582509 |
| phlebotomine sand flies in porteirinha, an area of american visceral leishmaniasis transmission in the state of minas gerais, brazil. | a study of the phlebotomine sand fly fauna was carried out in an endemic area of american visceral leishmaniasis (avl) in the municipality of porteirinha, in the brazilian state of minas gerais. captures were performed with cdc light traps in 7 districts, 5 days per month, during 2 consecutive years (january 2000 to december 2001). a total of 3240 sand flies were captured and identified. sixteen species were found, among which 15 belonged to the genus lutzomyia and one to the genus brumptomyia. ... | 2004 | 15543410 |
| analysis of the copulatory courtship songs of lutzomyia longipalpis in six populations from brazil. | the sand fly lutzomyia longipalpis lutz & neiva (diptera: psychodidae: phlebotominae), the main vector of leishmania infantum in the americas, is believed to be a species complex, although the status of different brazilian populations is still somewhat unclear. preliminary analysis of the acoustic signals that are produced during copulation by l. longipalpis males has suggested the existence of three sibling species in brazil. in the current report, we analyze in more detail a number of paramete ... | 2004 | 15535620 |
| genetic divergence among venezuelan populations of lutzomyia longipalpis (diptera: psychodidae: phlebotominae). | lutzomyia longipalpis (lutz & neiva) is the primary vector of visceral leishmaniasis in venezuela. an analysis of alleles at seven enzyme-encoding loci among four populations from different geographic and epidemiological regions revealed strong genetic substructuring. isozyme analysis indicated that l. longipalpis in venezuela is a complex of at least two subspecies. possible differences in population size during their evolutionary histories, varying colonization histories and geological events ... | 2000 | 15535572 |
| vesicular stomatitis virus evolution during alternation between persistent infection in insect cells and acute infection in mammalian cells is dominated by the persistence phase. | vesicular stomatitis virus has the potential for very rapid evolution in the laboratory, but like many other arboviruses, it evolves at a relatively slow rate in the natural environment. previous work showed that alternating replication in different cell types does not promote stasis. in order to determine whether other factors promote stasis, we compared the fitness trajectories of populations evolving during acute infections in mammalian cells, populations evolving during persistent infections ... | 2004 | 15507610 |
| blocked stomodeal valve of the insect vector: similar mechanism of transmission in two trypanosomatid models. | the regurgitation of metacyclic stages from the sand fly cardia is thought to be the prevailing mechanism of leishmania transmission. this regurgitation may result through damage of the stomodeal valve and its mechanical block by the parasites. we found this phenomenon in three sand fly-leishmania models and also in avian trypanosomes transmitted by culex mosquitoes. phlebotomus duboscqi, phlebotomus papatasi, lutzomyia longipalpis, and culex pipiens were membrane-fed on blood containing leishma ... | 2004 | 15491584 |
| genetic divergence in the cacophony ivs6 intron among five brazilian populations of lutzomyia longipalpis. | genes involved in the reproductive isolation are particularly useful as molecular markers in speciation studies. lutzomyia longipalpis (diptera: psychodidae: phlebotominae), a putative species complex, is a vector of visceral leishmaniasis in latin america. we isolated from this species a fragment homologous to cacophony, a drosophila gene that encodes features of the lovesong, an acoustic signal that is important in the sexual isolation of closely related species and known to vary considerably ... | 2004 | 15461432 |
| identification of the most abundant secreted proteins from the salivary glands of the sand fly lutzomyia longipalpis, vector of leishmania chagasi. | using massive cdna sequencing, proteomics and customized computational biology approaches, we have isolated and identified the most abundant secreted proteins from the salivary glands of the sand fly lutzomyia longipalpis. out of 550 randomly isolated clones from a full-length salivary gland cdna library, we found 143 clusters or families of related proteins. out of these 143 families, 35 were predicted to be secreted proteins. we confirmed, by edman degradation of lu. longipalpis salivary prote ... | 2004 | 15371479 |
| [visceral leishmaniasis among indians of the state of roraima, brazil: clinical and epidemiologic aspects of the cases observed from 1989 to 1993]. | a description of the epidemiological profile of visceral leishmaniasis among indians in the state of roraima, brazil, was based on the clinical characteristics of human and dog disease, ecological aspects of the area where the cases occurred and entomologic investigations performed from 1989 to 1993. the 82 human cases were reported in six out of eight counties that existed then in the state; there was a 69.5% predominance of male cases among those registered and a greater (52.4%) occurrence of ... | 2004 | 15334263 |
| [lutzomyia whitmani periurbanization in a focus of cutaneous leishmaniasis in the state of maranhão, brazil]. | an entomological survey was performed in the periurban area of the municipality of dom pedro in the state of maranhão in 2000, in order to estimate the abundance of lutzomyia longipalpis, due to the occurrence of one suspect death caused by kala azar. however, it was surprisingly verified that 82.4% (2,440 specimens) from the total of 2,961 sand flies captured in the peridomicile were lutzomyia whitmani. this association has indicated a new pattern for cutaneous leishmaniasis transmission (urban ... | 2004 | 15330071 |
| pacap modulation of the colon-inferior mesenteric ganglion reflex in the guinea pig. | we investigated the effect of pituitary adenylate cyclase activating peptide (pacap) on the colon-inferior mesenteric ganglion (img) reflex loop in vitro. pacap27 and pacap38 applied to the img caused a prolonged depolarization and intense generation of fast epsps and action potentials in img neurones. activation of pacap-preferring receptors (pac1-rs) with the selective agonist maxadilan or vasoactive intestinal peptide (vip)/pacap (vpac) receptors with vip produced similar effects whereas prio ... | 2004 | 15284351 |
| transmission of cutaneous leishmaniasis by sand flies is enhanced by regurgitation of fppg. | sand flies are the exclusive vectors of the protozoan parasite leishmania, but the mechanism of transmission by fly bite has not been determined nor incorporated into experimental models of infection. in sand flies with mature leishmania infections the anterior midgut is blocked by a gel of parasite origin, the promastigote secretory gel. here we analyse the inocula from leishmania mexicana-infected lutzomyia longipalpis sand flies. analysis revealed the size of the infectious dose, the underlyi ... | 2004 | 15269771 |
| visceral leishmaniasis caused by leishmania infantum in a spanish patient in argentina: what is the origin of the infection? case report. | the question "where have you been?" is a common one asked by doctors in northern europe and america when faced with clinical symptoms not typical of their country. this question must also arise in the clinics of developing countries in which non-autochthonous cases such as the one described here can appear. important outbreaks of leishmania infantum have been recorded in the last decade in several latin american countries but its presence has not yet been recorded in argentina. we report the fir ... | 2004 | 15225352 |
| distribution of phlebotomine sand flies (diptera: psychodidae) in the state of rio grande do norte, brazil. | visceral and cutaneous leishmaniasis are major endemic diseases in northeast brazil. the objective of the current study was to determine the species and geographic distribution of potential sand fly vectors of leishmania in the state of rio grande do norte. sand flies were captured using cdc light traps in 30 municipalities distributed throughout the 8 geographic zones of the state. twelve lutzomyia species were identified. lutzomyia longipalpis lutz & neiva was the most prevalent and accounted ... | 2000 | 15218921 |
| down-regulation of gp63 in leishmania amazonensis reduces its early development in lutzomyia longipalpis. | the zinc protease (gp63) of promastigotes was found to play a role in the sand fly part of the leishmania life cycle. lutzomyia longipalpis females were fed with promastigotes (10(6) per ml) of a leishmania amazonensis clone whose gp63 was up- and down-regulated by directional cloning into p6.5 for sense- and anti-sense transcription. early development was found to differ significantly between the sense- and anti-sense transfectants 2 days post-feeding. the sense transfectants overexpressing gp6 ... | 2004 | 15158771 |
| mosquito appetite for blood is stimulated by plasmodium chabaudi infections in themselves and their vertebrate hosts. | arthropod vectors of disease may encounter more than one infected host during the course of their lifetime. the consequences of super-infection to parasite development are rarely investigated, but may have substantial epidemiological and evolutionary consequences. | 2004 | 15151700 |
| [experimental infection of equus asinus with leishmania chagasi cunha & chagas, 1937]. | four equus asinus were challenged with promastigotes of leishmania chagasi cunha & chagas, 1937, and followed up for 12 months. they were observed by means of direct testing for promastigotes in smears and culture of peripheral blood, fragments from inferior lip, bone marrow, spleen and liver and the immunological assays elisa and trald. the post-necropsy histological examination demonstrated a small number of amastigotes in the liver of two animals. elisa and trald tests were positive at the 8t ... | 2003 | 15049109 |
| antigenic diversity in maxadilan, a salivary protein from the sand fly vector of american visceral leishmaniasis. | the salivary protein maxadilan (max) is a vasodilator and immunomodulator from the sand fly vector of the protozoan parasite leishmania chagasi. vaccinating balb/c mice with sand fly salivary gland extracts or with max protects the host against l. major infection. because of the potential use of max in an anti-leishmania vaccine, we characterized the vertebrate host igg response to max in the present study. our immunochemical analysis indicated that antibodies to max were detected in balb/c mice ... | 2004 | 15031518 |
| negative effect of antibodies against maxadilan on the fitness of the sand fly vector of american visceral leishmaniasis. | lutzomyia longipalpis expresses a salivary protein called maxadilan (max) that functions to dilate vertebrate blood vessels and thereby to facilitate the sand fly's acquisition of blood. we hypothesized that antibodies specific for one of many max variants would inhibit vasodilatory function of that variant. in vitro and in vivo experiments showed that antibodies against a specific max variant decreased vasodilatory function. more specifically, antibodies against max blocked vasodilation of a co ... | 2004 | 15031517 |
| [absence of lutzomyia longipalpis in some endemic visceral leishmaniasis areas in rio de janeiro municipality]. | the first autochthonous case of human visceral leishmaniasis (vl) in the municipality of rio de janeiro was diagnosed in 1977. since 1980, 54 autochthonous cases have been diagnosed in various locations, and since 1993 some 17 autochthonous human cases have been reported. eight of these occurred in the neighborhood of barra de guaratiba and the others were distributed in the following neighborhoods: camorim, colônia, grota funda, grumari, ilha de guaratiba, and carapiá. from september 1996 to de ... | 2004 | 14999355 |
| lutzomyia longipalpis salivary gland homogenate impairs cytokine production and costimulatory molecule expression on human monocytes and dendritic cells. | in this report, we describe an investigation of the effects of lutzomyia longipalpis sand fly salivary gland homogenates (sgh) on cytokine production and expression of costimulatory molecules on human monocytes, macrophages (mphis), and dendritic cells (dcs). sgh of l. longipalpis induced an increase in interleukin-6 (il-6), il-8 and il-12p40 production but a decrease in tumor necrosis factor alpha and il-10 production by lipopolysaccharida (lps)-stimulated monocytes. we also examined the expres ... | 2004 | 14977931 |
| sand fly saliva enhances leishmania amazonensis infection by modulating interleukin-10 production. | after transmission through the bite of female sand flies, leishmania spp. can cause a broad spectrum of disease manifestations collectively known as leishmaniases. l. amazonensis is endemic in south america, where it causes cutaneous, diffuse cutaneous, and visceral leishmaniasis. in this study, we have provided evidence that salivary gland extracts (sge) of lutzomyia longipalpis enhances l. amazonensis infection. balb/c mice infected intradermally in the ear with 10(5) metacyclic promastigotes ... | 2004 | 14977924 |
| allomonal effect of breath contributes to differential attractiveness of humans to the african malaria vector anopheles gambiae. | background: removal of exhaled air from total body emanations or artificially standardising carbon dioxide (co2) outputs has previously been shown to eliminate differential attractiveness of humans to certain blackfly (simuliidae) and mosquito (culicidae) species. whether or not breath contributes to between-person differences in relative attractiveness to the highly anthropophilic malaria vector anopheles gambiae sensu stricto remains unknown and was the focus of the present study. methods: the ... | 2004 | 14748930 |
| [blood feeding sources and peridomiciliation of lutzomyia longipalpis (lutz & neiva, 1912) (psychodidae, phlebotominae)]. | a precipitin test was employed to study the alimentary tract content of lutzomyia longipalpis in the intra- and peridomiciliary environments in the municipality of raposa, maranh o state, a transmission area for visceral leishmaniasis or kala azar. out of 2,240 female sandflies captured, 547 (24.4%) had fed on vertebrate blood, with the following proportions: avian (87.9%); rodent (47.2%); human (42.4%); canine (27.6%); opossum (26.6%); and equine (22.5%). based on a survey of 120 human dwelling ... | 2003 | 14666218 |
| control trial of lutzomyia longipalpis s.l. in the island of margarita, venezuela. | the incidence of the american visceral leishmaniasis (avl) in the island of margarita, a major tourist centre in venezuela, has been increasing between 1998 and 2001. lutzomyia longipalpis s.l. is the recognized vector, which was found naturally infected with leishmania spp, indistinguishable from the parasites recovered from dogs and children. in 1999-2000, we conducted a control trial in santa ana del valle and las cabreras, which have similar epidemiological and ecological conditions. the tri ... | 2003 | 14641849 |
| mitochondrial cytochrome b variation in populations of the visceral leishmaniasis vector lutzomyia longipalpis across eastern brazil. | a population analysis of peridomestic, light-trapped, field specimens of the phlebotomine sand fly lutzomyia longipalpis was targeted to six locations representing a geographic transect across eastern brazil. mitochondrial cytochrome b gene sequences established the pattern of genetic variation among the populations. alignment of a 261-basepair region at the 3' end of cytochrome b identified 30 haplotypes and 21 segregating sites from 78 sand flies. pairwise comparisons indicated statistically s ... | 2003 | 14640498 |
| physiological consequences of drug resistance in leishmania and their relevance for chemotherapy. | in the early twentieth century, infectious diseases were a leading cause of death worldwide. through the following years, morbidity and mortality caused by infectious diseases decreased considerably in the developed world, but not in the developing world, where infectious diseases remain an important reason for concern. for example, leishmaniosis has become into a serious third world problem. this is mainly due to an increasing frequency of drug-resistance in leishmania and an enhanced risk of c ... | 2003 | 14613496 |
| the taxonomic status of genetically divergent populations of lutzomyia longipalpis (diptera: psychodidae) based on the distribution of mitochondrial and isozyme variation. | the sand fly, lutzomyia longipalpis (lutz & neiva) reputedly is a complex of cryptic species; however, there is currently no consensus as to the number of species in the complex or their geographic distributions. we conducted phylogenetic analyses of 31 populations from throughout the species range, using seven isozyme loci and genes in the mitochondrial genome. analyses of these two independent sets of markers were largely concordant and revealed four distinct clades that support the existence ... | 2003 | 14596274 |
| horizontal stratification of the sand fly fauna (diptera: psychodidae) in a transitional vegetation between caatinga and tropical rain forest, state of bahia, brazil. | a study about the horizontal stratification of the sand fly fauna in two distinct ecosystems, caatinga area, endemic for visceral leishmaniasis, and the tropical rain forest area, endemic for cutaneous leishmaniasis, was performed in the state of bahia, brazil. lutzomyia longipalpis was predominant in the caatinga, and following it came the species l. capixaba and l. oswaldoi. in the tropical rain forest other species were found, such as l. intermedia, l. migonei, l. whitmani, l. yuilli, l.fisch ... | 2003 | 14595447 |
| evidence for the involvement of vpac1 and vpac2 receptors in pressure-induced vasodilatation in rodents. | a transient increase in skin blood flow in response to an innocuous local pressure application, defined as pressure-induced vasodilatation (piv), delays the occurrence of ischaemia, suggesting a protective feature against applied pressure. the piv response depends on capsaicin-sensitive nerve fibres and calcitonin gene-related peptide (cgrp) has been shown to be involved. in these fibres, cgrp coexists with pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (pacap). three distinct receptors medi ... | 2004 | 14578481 |
| the presence of lutzomyia longipalpis in a focus of american visceral leishmaniasis where the only proven vector is lutzomyia cruzi. corumbá, mato grosso do sul state. | the present communication reports the presence of lutzomyia longipalpis in corumbá, mato grosso do sul, where the principal vector is lutzomyia cruzi. | 2003 | 14576882 |
| two separate growth phases during the development of leishmania in sand flies: implications for understanding the life cycle. | the life cycle of leishmania alternates between two main morphological forms: intracellular amastigotes in the mammalian host and motile promastigotes in the sand fly vector. several different forms of promastigote have been described in sandfly infections, the best known of these being metacyclic promastigotes, the mammal-infective stages. here we provide evidence that for leishmania (leishmania) mexicana and leishmania (leishmania) infantum (syn. chagasi) there are two separate, consecutive gr ... | 2003 | 13129524 |
| interaction of insect trypanosomatids with mosquitoes, sand fly and the respective insect cell lines. | interaction experiments between hematophagous insects and monoxenous trypanosomatids have become relevant, once cases of human infection involving these protozoa have been reported. moreover, investigations related to the interaction of insects with trypanosomatids that harbour an endosymbiotic bacterium and thereby lack the paraflagellar rod structure are important to elucidate the role of this structure in the adhesion process. in this work, we compared the interaction of endosymbiont-bearing ... | 2003 | 13129523 |
| abortive infection of lutzomyia longipalpis insect vectors by aflagellated ldarl-3a-q70l overexpressing leishmania amazonensis parasites. | leishmania donovani adp-ribosylation factor-like protein 3a (ldarl-3a) is a small g protein isolated from the protozoan parasite l. donovani with no defined physiological function. previously [cuvillier, a., redon, f., antoine, j.-c., chardin, p., devos, t., and merlin, g. (2000) j cell sci 113: 2065-2074] we have shown that overexpression in l. amazonensis promastigotes of the mutated protein ldarl-3a-q70l, which remains constitutively associated with gtp, leads to the disappearance of the flag ... | 2003 | 12969377 |
| lutzomyia longipalpis (diptera: psychodidae: phlebotominae): a review. | lutzomyia longipalpis is the most important vector of americanvisceral leishmaniasis (avl) due to leishmania chagasi in the new world. despite its importance, avl, a disease primarily of rural areas, has increased its prevalence and became urbanized in some large cities in brazil and other countries in latin america. although the disease is treatable, other control measures include elimination of infected dogs and the use of insecticides to kill the sand flies. a better understanding of vector b ... | 2003 | 12947480 |
| phlebotomus (adlerius) halepensis vector competence for leishmania major and le. tropica. | in eurasia, phlebotomine sandflies of the subgenus adlerius (diptera: psychodidae) comprise about 20 known species. some are suspected vectors of visceral leishmaniasis (vl) and at least one species has been implicated as a vector of cutaneous leishmaniasis (cl). we tested phlebotomus (adlerius) halepensis theodor (jordan strain) for cl vector competence, compared with three standard vectors: phlebotomus (phlebotomus) duboscqi n-l. from senegal, phlebotomus (paraphlebotomus) sergenti parrot from ... | 2003 | 12941007 |
| immunomodulatory effects of maxadilan and phlebotomus papatasi sand fly salivary gland lysates on human primary in vitro immune responses. | leishmaniasis is a parasitic disease transmitted by the bite of leishmania-infected sand flies. here we show for the first time the ability of maxadilan (max), a vasodilatory peptide isolated from the sand fly lutzomyia longipalpis, and salivary gland lysate (sgl) from phlebotomus papatasi to decrease the secretion of type 1 cytokines and to enhance the production of the type 2 cytokine interleukin (il)-6 by human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (pbmc) and monocytes. we found max decreased th ... | 2003 | 12911520 |
| navigation of lutzomyia longipalpis (diptera: psychodidae) under dusk or starlight conditions. | the responses of male and female lutzomyia longipalpis (lutz & neiva) to different wavelengths of light was tested by presenting the sandflies with two light sources simultaneously, a series of test wavelengths between 350-670 nm and a 400 nm control. to test whether l. longipalpis could discriminate between the test and control, three sets of experiments were carried out in which the test wavelengths were presented at higher, equivalent or lower intensity than the control. in all three experime ... | 2003 | 12908917 |
| anti-complement activity in the saliva of phlebotomine sand flies and other haematophagous insects. | the saliva of haematophagous insects has a series of pharmacological activities which may favour blood feeding. in the present study, an inhibitory effect on the complement system was observed in salivary extracts obtained from the phlebotomine sand flies lutzomyia longipalpis and lu. migonei. saliva from lu. longipalpis was capable of inhibiting both the classical and alternative pathways, while that from lu. migonei acted only on the former. other haematophagous insect species were screened fo ... | 2003 | 12885192 |
| [pcr as a tool in confirming the experimental transmission of leishmania chagasi to hamsters by lutzomyia longipalpis (diptera:psychodidae)]. | the use of pcr (polymerase chain reaction) was evaluated for its effectiveness as a tool in the detection of transmission of leishmania chagasi to a hamster host, mesocricetus auratus, by insect vector bite. two pairs of uninfected and anesthetized hamsters were introduced into cages containing infected females of the typical phlebotomine sand fly vector, lutzomyia longipalpis. the flies were experimentally infected with leishmania chagasi and the infection was verified by dissection of subsampl ... | 2003 | 12872564 |
| genetic identification of two sibling species of lutzomyia longipalpis (diptera: psychodidae) that produce distinct male sex pheromones in sobral, ceará state, brazil. | lutzomyia longipalpis, the main sandfly vector for new world visceral leishmaniasis is a complex of an as yet undefined number of sibling species. at present, there is no consensus on the status (single species vs. species complex) of brazilian populations. we applied five microsatellite loci to test the hypothesis that l. longipalpis occurs as two sympatric cryptic species in sobral, ceará state, brazil as predicted by male sex pheromone chemotypes described previously for field specimens from ... | 2003 | 12803639 |
| phylogeography of the neotropical sand fly lutzomyia longipalpis inferred from mitochondrial dna sequences. | sand flies in the lutzomyia longipalpis species complex include the primary vector of leishmania chagasi, the etiologic agent of visceral leishmaniasis in the neotropics. twelve l. longipalpis populations from south and central america were compared using the cytochrome c oxidase i (coi) gene from the mitochondrial genome. the haplotype profiles for each population revealed that the majority of sequence variation was inter-population (98%) rather than intra-population, suggesting that sequence p ... | 2002 | 12797984 |
| a follow-up of beagle dogs intradermally infected with leishmania chagasi in the presence or absence of sand fly saliva. | in this study, we compare the development of infection and/or disease in beagle dogs intradermally infected with leishmania chagasi, in the presence or absence of lutzomyia longipalpis saliva, with those of intravenously infected animals. spleen samples of all the animals inoculated with parasites had positive polymerase chain reaction tests for leishmania dna. positive spleen cultures for leishmania were detected earlier (p < or = 0.018) and were more frequent (five out of the five animals) in ... | 2003 | 12781472 |
| canine visceral leishmaniasis in barra de guaratiba, rio de janeiro, brazil: assessment of risk factors. | barra de guaratiba is a coastal area of the city of rio de janeiro where american visceral leishmaniasis (avl) is endemic. although control measures including killing of dogs and use of insecticides have been applied at this locality, the canine seroprevalence remains at 25% and during 1995 and 1997 eight autochthonous human cases were notified. in order to evaluate factors related to the increase of the risk for leishmania (leishmania) chagasi infection in dogs we have screened 365 dogs by anti ... | 2003 | 12754572 |
| [approximation to the cdc method to determine insecticide susceptibility in leishmaniasis vectors]. | the centers for disease control (cdc, usa) has proposed a simplified method for the determinations of insecticide resistance in adult mosquitoes, using 250 ml wheaton bottles containing measured dosages. insects are transferred into the bottle for 1 hour and monitored for mortality at regular intervals. in standardizing the cdc method for use with phlebotomine sand flies, effects of the solvent without insecticide were evaluated. two colonized sand fly vector species were used: lutzomyia longipa ... | 2003 | 12696404 |
| genetic characterization of glucose transporter function in leishmania mexicana. | both insect and mammalian life cycle stages of leishmania mexicana take up glucose and express all three isoforms encoded by the lmgt glucose transporter gene family. to evaluate glucose transporter function in intact parasites, a null mutant line has been created by targeted disruption of the lmgt locus that encompasses the lmgt1, lmgt2, and lmgt3 genes. this deltalmgt null mutant exhibited no detectable glucose transport activity. the growth rate of the deltalmgt knockout in the promastigote s ... | 2003 | 12651954 |
| molecular characterization of llchit1, a midgut chitinase cdna from the leishmaniasis vector lutzomyia longipalpis. | during development within the midgut of the sand fly vector, leishmania parasites after undergoing differentiation and multiplication must escape the peritrophic matrix (pm). although leishmania chitinase is believed to take part in promoting the escape of the parasite from the pm by inducing degradation of chitin fibers, it is conceivable that a sand fly-derived chitinase can also have a role in such an event. here we describe the molecular cloning and partial characterization of a complete cdn ... | 2003 | 12609513 |
| ecology of american cutaneous leishmaniasis in the state of rio de janeiro, brazil. | a study of the sand fly fauna was carried out in the endemic area ofamerican cutaneous leishmaniasis (acl) in the municipality of mesquita, state of rio de janeiro, in an area where dwellings (with humans and dogs infected by leishmania (viannia) braziliensis) have been recently visited by sloths. weekly captures were made during two consecutive years in two different sites (1 m and 600 m above sea level) and in three different habitats in each site (domestic, extra-domestic and sylvatic) using ... | 2002 | 12546456 |
| comparative vectorial efficiency of lutzomyia evansi and lu. longipalpis for transmitting leishmania chagasi. | the infection rates and development of leishmania chagasi in two sandfly species, lutzomyia evansi and lutzomyia longipalpis, were evaluated under natural and experimental conditions. natural infection rates of lu. evansi in san andrés de sotavento (colombia) and montañas de peraza (venezuela) (0.05 and 0.2%, respectively) were similar to those previously recorded for this species in colombia and venezuela and for lu. longipalpis in many foci of american visceral leishmaniasis (avl). both sand f ... | 2003 | 12505180 |
| role of the domestic chicken (gallus gallus) in the epidemiology of urban visceral leishmaniasis in brazil. | zoonotic visceral leishmaniasis (zvl) is a serious public health problem in several brazilian cities. although the proximity of chicken houses is often cited as a risk factor in studies of urban zvl, the role chickens play in the epidemiology of the disease has not been defined. chickens attract both male and female sand flies (lutzomyia longipalpis) but are unable to sustain leishmania infections, and their presence may exert a zooprophylactic effect. we discuss environmental, physiologic, soci ... | 2002 | 12498667 |
| intradermal infection model for pathogenesis and vaccine studies of murine visceral leishmaniasis. | the levels of protection found in vaccine studies of murine visceral leishmaniasis are significantly lower than for cutaneous leishmaniasis; whether this is due to the high-challenge murine model employed and/or is a consequence of differences required in tissue-specific local immune responses is not understood. consequently, an intradermal murine model of visceral leishmaniasis has been explored. intradermal inoculation established a chronic infection in susceptible mice which was associated wi ... | 2003 | 12496190 |
| characterization of the lectin from females of phlebotomus duboscqi sand flies. | lectin from females of the important sand fly vector, phlebotomus duboscqi (diptera: psychodidae), was isolated by immunoaffinity chromatography using a minicolumn with immobilized anti-lectin immunoglobulins. carbohydrate-binding specificity of active fractions corresponded to that of midgut and salivary gland lysates. haemagglutination was inhibited by d-glucosamine, d-galactosamine and d-mannosamine. the homogeneity and molecular mass of the purified lectin was examined by sds/page in both re ... | 2002 | 12473126 |
| the salivary purine nucleosidase of the mosquito, aedes aegypti. | a cdna clone originating from adult female aedes aegypti mosquitoes was found with substantial similarity to nucleosidases of the ec 3.2.2.1 enzyme class. although this type of enzyme is unusual in animals, abundant enzyme activity was found in salivary homogenates of this mosquito, but not in salivary homogenates of the mosquitoes anopheles gambiae and culex quinquefasciatus, or the sand fly lutzomyia longipalpis. aedes salivary homogenate hydrolyses inosine and guanosine to hypoxanthine and xa ... | 2003 | 12459196 |
| low infectiousness of a wildlife host of leishmania infantum: the crab-eating fox is not important for transmission. | the epidemiological role of the crab-eating fox cerdocyon thous in the transmission of leishmania infantum is assessed in a longitudinal study in amazon brazil. a total of 37 wild-caught foxes were immunologically and clinically monitored, and 26 foxes exposed to laboratory colonies of the sandfly vector lutzomyia longipalpis, over a 15-month period. in total 78% (29/37) of foxes were seropositive for anti-leishmania igg on at least 1 occasion, and 38% (8/37) had infections confirmed by pcr and/ ... | 2002 | 12458824 |
| assessment of pcr in the detection of leishmania spp in experimentally infected individual phlebotomine sandflies (diptera: psychodidae: phlebotominae). | dna amplification by the polymerase chain reaction (pcr) was applied in the investigation of the presence of leishmania (kinetoplastida: trypanosomatidae) parasites in single phlebotomine sandflies. three phlebotomine/parasite pairs were used: lutzomyia longipalpis/leishmania chagasi, lutzomyia migonei/leishmania amazonensis and lutzomyia migonei/leishmania braziliensis, all of them incriminated in the transmission of visceral or cutaneous leishmaniasis. dna extraction was performed with whole i ... | 2002 | 12436164 |
| salivary gland hyaluronidase in various species of phlebotomine sand flies (diptera: psychodidae). | hyaluronidase activity was detected and partially characterized in salivary gland extracts of females of six sand fly species. in phlebotomus papatasi and lutzomyia longipalpis the enzyme was active over a broad ph range; the ph optimum was 5.0. besides high cleaving activity towards hyaluronic acid, it hydrolyzed chondroitin sulfates a and c. hyaluronidases of various sand fly species differed in structure and sensitivity to reducing conditions. in the subgenera phlebotomus (p. papatasi and p. ... | 2002 | 12429121 |
| maxadilan, the vasodilator/immunomodulator from lutzomyia longipalpis sand fly saliva, stimulates haematopoiesis in mice. | protozoal parasites of the genus leishmania are transmitted to their vertebrate host within the saliva of the sand fly during a blood meal. the saliva of the sand fly lutzomyia longipalpis contains maxadilan, a potent vasodilator and immunomodulator. maxadilan has been shown to enhance the virulence of l. major in all strains of laboratory mice when injected along with the organism. increased haematopoiesis has been associated with enhanced susceptibility to leishmania organisms. here, we show t ... | 2002 | 12406198 |
| [definition of appropriate temperature and storage conditions in the detection of leishmania dna with pcr in phlebotomine flies]. | for epidemiological studies and control programs of leishmaniasis, taxonomic identification of the etiologic agent of the disease in the insect vector is of critical importance. the implementation of molecular techniques such as the polymerase chain reaction (pcr) has permitted great advances in the efficacy and sensitivity of parasite identification. previously, these investigations involved labor-intensive dissections and required expert personnel. the present work evaluates the effects of sto ... | 2002 | 12404930 |
| seroconversion against lutzomyia longipalpis saliva concurrent with the development of anti-leishmania chagasi delayed-type hypersensitivity. | antibody responses to salivary gland sonicate (sgs) from lutzomyia longipalpis were investigated using serum samples from individuals living in an area where visceral leishmaniasis is endemic. individuals were classified into 2 groups, according to the alteration of their responses to leishmania chagasi antigen over the course of 6 months. group 1 included children who experienced anti-l. chagasi seroconversion from negative to positive; group 2 included children who experienced delayed-type hyp ... | 2002 | 12404176 |
| infectiousness in a cohort of brazilian dogs: why culling fails to control visceral leishmaniasis in areas of high transmission. | the elimination of seropositive dogs in brazil has been used to control zoonotic visceral leishmaniasis but with little success. to elucidate the reasons for this, the infectiousness of 50 sentinel dogs exposed to natural leishmania chagasi infection was assessed through time by xenodiagnosis with the sandfly vector, lutzomyia longipalpis. eighteen (43%) of 42 infected dogs became infectious after a median of 333 days in the field (105 days after seroconversion). seven highly infectious dogs (17 ... | 2002 | 12402201 |
| preliminary description of a new entomoparasitic nematode infecting lutzomyia longipalpis sand fly, the vector of visceral leishmaniasis in the new world. | phlebotomine sandflies are vectors of important pathogens world-wide, including leishmania spp. in the neotropics. entomoparasites have been described from phlebotomines, including virus, bacteria, protozoa, fungi, nematodes, and mites, some of which are capable of killing the host. in the present study, interference, fluorescence, and scanning electron microscopies were used for the first time to detect and morphologically characterize a new entomoparasite infecting lutzomyia longipalpis. sever ... | 2002 | 12234540 |
| molecular determinants and regulation of leishmania virulence. | a leishmania model to explain microbial virulence in chronic infectious diseases is proposed. all these diseases progress from infection to symptomatic phase to host death or recovery. the outcome of each phase is depicted to result from the interactions of a distinct group of parasite molecules with a specific host immune compartment. the first group consists of invasive/evasive determinants, which are largely parasite cell surface and secreted molecules. their activities help parasites establi ... | 2002 | 12234388 |
| preliminary assays indicate that antonia ovata (loganiaceae) and derris amazonica (papilionaceae), ichthyotoxic plants used for fishing in roraima, brazil, have an insecticide effect on lutzomyia longipalpis (diptera: psychodidae: phlebotominae). | laboratory-reared lutzomyia longipalpis (lutz and neiva 1912) was tested with extracts of two ichthyotoxic plants, known as timbós, used as fishing poison in the amazon. phlebotomines, l. longipalpis, and plants, antonia ovata and derris amazonica, were collected in the raposa-serra do sol indian reserve, a focus of visceral leishmaniasis in the state of roraima, brazil. extracts were prepared from dried leaves of a. ovata and roots of d. amazonica that were percolated in water, filtered and dri ... | 2002 | 12219144 |
| genome-wide analysis of the odorant-binding protein gene family in drosophila melanogaster. | olfaction is of considerable importance to many insects in behaviors critical for survival and reproduction, including location of food sources, selection of mates, recognition of colony con-specifics, and determination of oviposition sites. an ubiquitous, but poorly understood, component of the insect's olfactory system is a group of odorant-binding proteins (obps) that are present at high concentrations in the aqueous lymph surrounding the dendrites of olfactory receptor neurons. obps are beli ... | 0 | 12213773 |
| practical approach for typing strains of leishmania infantum by microsatellite analysis. | currently the universally accepted standard procedure for characterizing and identifying strains of leishmania is isoenzyme analysis. however, in the mediterranean area, despite their very wide geographical distribution, most leishmania infantum strains belong to zymodeme mon-1. in order to increase our understanding of polymorphism in strains of l. infantum, we developed pcr assays amplifying 10 microsatellites and sequenced pcr products. the discriminative power of microsatellite analysis was ... | 2002 | 12202583 |
| molecular divergence in the period gene between two putative sympatric species of the lutzomyia longipalpis complex. | 2002 | 12200489 | |
| impact of the el niño/southern oscillation on visceral leishmaniasis, brazil. | we used time-series analysis and linear regression to investigate the relationship between the annual niño-3 index from 1980 to 1998 and the annual incidence of visceral leishmaniasis (vl) in the state of bahia, brazil, during 1985-1999. an increase in vl incidence was observed in the post-el niño years 1989 (+38.7%) and 1995 (+33.5%). the regression model demonstrates that the previous year's mean niño-3 index and the temporal trend account for approximately 50% of the variance in the annual in ... | 0 | 12194766 |
| [standardization of the method proposed by the world health organization for determining the susceptibility levels of leishmaniasis vectors to insecticides]. | the who method for determining insecticide resistance was standardized for several species of lutzomyia sand flies under laboratory and field conditions. the biological assays were applied solely to optimize the conditions for the control, i.e., without insecticide, and to estimate mortality due to handling or other unfavorable conditions. adult female flies from 3 laboratory colonies and one field strain were tested: two laboratory strains of lutzomyia longipalpis, one laboratory strain of lutz ... | 2002 | 12152485 |
| the period gene and genetic differentiation between three brazilian populations of lutzomyia longipalpis. | lutzomyia longipalpis (diptera: psychodidae: phlebotominae), the main vector of visceral leishmaniasis in the americas, is a putative species complex. molecular polymorphism was characterized in a 266 bp fragment of l. longipalpis homologous to period, a 'speciation gene' from drosophila. samples from the brazilian localities of jacobina (ba), lapinha (mg) and natal (rn) were analysed and the data indicate that the three populations are highly differentiated, with a very low level of gene flow b ... | 2002 | 12144696 |
| rapid identification of mitochondrial cytochrome b haplotypes by single strand conformation polymorphism in lutzomyia longipalpis (diptera: psychodidae) populations. | newly designed primers amplified a 365-bp fragment including the 3' end of mitochondrial cytochromeb (cyt b). field collected specimens of the sand fly, lutzomyia longipalpis (lutz and neiva), from two brazil locations provided test dna. the primers, based on consensus sequences from a taxonomic spectrum of arthropods, have also amplified dna successfully from lutzomyia shannoni dyar, lutzomyia cruzi (mangabeira), and the mosquito aedes albopictus (skuse). single strand conformation polymorphism ... | 2002 | 12144306 |
| phenol red method for measuring the ph of the gut contents in lutzomyia longipalpis (psychodidae:diptera). | to develop a method to estimate the ph of the gut contents of female sandflies using a microcapillary feeding technique. | 1998 | 12078212 |
| impact of habitat degradation on phlebotominae (diptera: psychodidae) of tropical dry forests in northern colombia. | we examined changes in the phlebotomine fauna resulting from human intervention in a tropical dry forest of northern colombia where visceral and cutaneous leishmaniases are endemic. a natural forest reserve (colosó) and a highly degraded area (san andrés de sotavento [sas]) were sampled monthly for 8 mo using shannon traps, sticky traps, and resting-site collections. overall abundances were higher in colosó (15,988) than in sas (2,324). and species richness of phlebotomines was greater in the fo ... | 2002 | 12061439 |
| histochemical localization of n-acetyl-galactosamine in the midgut lutzomyia longipalpis (diptera: psychodidae). | the binding of lectins to the midgut of the female sand fly lutzomyia longipalpis (lutz & neiva) was investigated using lectin-gold conjugates. midguts from laboratory-reared flies provided fructose solution and/or blood fed on hamster were dissected at 6, 24, and 48 h and at 5 and 7 d after feeding. before examination by transmission electron microscopy, each midgut was sectioned, incubated with lectins from four sources (canavalia ensiformis [cona], helix pomata agglutinin [hpa], peanut agglut ... | 2002 | 12061436 |