In the Mediterranean basin, human visceral leishmaniasis caused by the protozoan parasite Leishmania infantum is a zoonotic disease that gives rise to 1,200 to 2,000 new cases annually. The domestic dog constitutes its main reservoir, of which some may suffer from a severe chronic disease, canine leishmaniasis (CanL). The sand fly Phlebotomus perniciosus is considered to be the principle vector. Saliva of bloodfeeding vectors of diseases has been used in the past to assess host exposure to vector bites and to evaluate vector control tools. This Ph.D. focused on saliva of P. perniciosus to identify exposure markers that could be used in the preparation of a new vector exposure tool. The first part of this Ph.D. aimed at validating the use of a recombinant salivary protein of P. perniciosus - rSP03B - in endemic settings of CanL. During a cross-sectional study, no significant differences between the antibody (Ab) response against whole saliva or the rSP03B were observed between different regions across the Mediterranean basin. Furthermore, the rSP03B was shown to resemble the native protein. During a subsequent study this protein was used to assess the seasonal dynamics of the canine Ab response to P. perniciosus in an endemic area of L. infantum. This study elucidated that also in a heterogeneous...
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:nusl.cz/oai:invenio.nusl.cz:394253 |
| Date | January 2019 |
| Creators | Willen, Laura Adrienne André |
| Contributors | Volf, Petr, Kopecký, Jan, Valenzuela, Jesus G. |
| Source Sets | Czech ETDs |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | info:eu-repo/semantics/doctoralThesis |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess |
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