Acta tropica最新文献

{"title":"Climatic and meteorological factors shaping the potential activity season of sand flies in Southeast Europe.","authors":"Attila J Trájer, Edwin Kniha","doi":"10.1016/j.actatropica.2024.107486","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.actatropica.2024.107486","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Sand flies, the principal vectors of Leishmania spp., are widely endemic in the Balkans and its neighbouring area. Among many factors, meteorological constraints shape sand fly distribution and activity, and are therefore important to assess to understand sand fly occurrence and prevent transmission of pathogens. To determine the daily limits of sand fly activity in Southeast Europe, we used entomological trapping data of eight species from seven countries, as well as temperature, precipitation, global radiation, wind speed, and sea level pressure data of the E-OBS gridded dataset. While 91.3 % of analyzed sites represented humid subtropical-continental ecotypes, heterogenous meteorological activity thresholds were found between species. By ranking the species based on their meteorological limits, Phlebotomus balcanicus and Ph. papatasi showed the widest general meteorological tolerance, whereas the activity of Sergentomyia minuta, Ph. tobbi, and Ph. simici were observed to be most sensitive to meteorological changes. However, principal ordinate analysis suggested that Ph. neglectus and Ph. mascittii had the widest ecological niches related to their activity constraints, and Ph. tobbi and Ph. simici had the narrowest. Phlebotomus mascitti and Se. minuta exhibited the most notable overall dissimilarity of the meteorological requirements of activity. The ensemble tests showed that the feature importance of different meteorological factors varies by sand fly species related to their activity. This study should help to better understand small-scale differences in sand fly occurrence in Southeast Europe to support future surveys and targeted surveillance to assess pathogen transmission in endemic areas.</p>","PeriodicalId":7240,"journal":{"name":"Acta tropica","volume":" ","pages":"107486"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142765440","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Odor masking to decrease the attraction of Triatoma infestans (Hemiptera: Reduviidae, Triatominae), a Chagas disease vector, towards a host.","authors":"Andrea Martínez Beningaza, I M Desiree Di Benedetto, Lucía Babino, Pablo G Guerenstein","doi":"10.1016/j.actatropica.2024.107520","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.actatropica.2024.107520","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Chagas disease, vectored by kissing bugs, poses a public health problem across the Americas. The best way for reducing disease transmission is through vector control, which is currently based on the use of insecticides. However, insecticide resistance, and environmental and health issues, stress the need for new, environmentally-friendly methods for reducing vector-host contacts. Kissing bugs use the odor blend emitted by hosts to locate them. The proportions of the constituents of that blend are important to determine the attraction evoked by it. We aimed at assessing whether artificial alterations of those proportions could render an attractive host, unattractive for the kissing bug Triatoma infestans. Thus, the behavior of the bugs after adding a source of nonanal, a component of vertebrate odor detected by the bugs, to an attractive mouse was studied. For this, nymphs were tested using a dual-choice trap-olfactometer and different doses of nonanal. Addition of nonanal resulted in a dose- dependent reduction in the attraction of the bugs towards the mouse although it did not prevent the bugs from leaving their release zone nor it affected their (reduced) host preference near the host. Nonanal per se did not evoke any behavior at the doses tested. We suggest that the increase in the proportion of nonanal resulted in masking of the mouse odor. This approach could help reach a \"push\" effect within an effective push- pull strategy for kissing bugs. That strategy would help diminish the vector-host contacts and, therefore, Chagas disease incidence, in an environmentally-friendly manner. It remains to be established whether this strategy proves effective in the field when adequate odor dispensers and socially acceptable odors are used.</p>","PeriodicalId":7240,"journal":{"name":"Acta tropica","volume":" ","pages":"107520"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2024-12-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142913489","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Wolbachia-Based Mosquito Control: Environmental Perspectives on Population Suppression and Replacement Strategies.","authors":"Joydeb Bhattacharyya, Daniel L Roelke","doi":"10.1016/j.actatropica.2024.107517","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actatropica.2024.107517","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Mosquito-borne diseases pose a significant threat to global health, and traditional mosquito control methods often fall short of effectiveness. A promising alternative is the biological control strategy of transinfecting mosquitoes with Wolbachia, a bacterium capable of outcompeting harmful pathogens and reducing the ability of mosquitoes to transmit diseases. However, Wolbachia infections are sensitive to abiotic environmental factors such as temperature and humidity, which can affect their densities in mosquitoes and, consequently, their ability to block pathogens. This review evaluates the effectiveness of different Wolbachia strains transinfected into mosquitoes in reducing mosquito-borne diseases. It explores how Wolbachia contributes to mosquito population control and pathogen interference, highlighting the importance of mathematical models in understanding Wolbachia transmission dynamics. Additionally, the review addresses the potential impact on arboviral transmission and the challenges posed by environmental fluctuations in mosquito control programs.</p>","PeriodicalId":7240,"journal":{"name":"Acta tropica","volume":" ","pages":"107517"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2024-12-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142908879","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"In search of pathogenic Leptospira species in Myotis and other vesper bats, Russia.","authors":"Alex Lintu Viskontene, Ekaterina V Radyuk, Oleg A Shapkin, Evgeniy A Khizhkin, Victoria P Bulanenko, Yana A Voytsekhovskaya, Sergey G Medvedev, Lyudmila S Karan","doi":"10.1016/j.actatropica.2024.107506","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.actatropica.2024.107506","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Various bat species worldwide have been identified as Leptospira carriers, especially in tropical regions. In this study, we investigated the infection of Vespertilionidae bats by pathogenic Leptospira in north-west Russia. Out of 264 bats from 13 species, the urine of 24 specimens tested positive according to a polymerase chain reaction test. The infected species were exclusively Myotis bats: M. brandtii (1/56; 1.8 %); M. dasycneme (9/40; 22.5 %); and M. daubentonii (14/47; 29.8 %). The detected Leptospira strains were similar to L. kirschneri and L. borgpetersenii.</p>","PeriodicalId":7240,"journal":{"name":"Acta tropica","volume":" ","pages":"107506"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2024-12-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142891340","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Protective humoral immunity induced by virus-like particles expressing Toxoplasma gondii CST1 or MIC8.","authors":"Jie Mao, Gi-Deok Eom, Keon-Woong Yoon, Su In Heo, Hae-Ji Kang, Ki Back Chu, Eun-Kyung Moon, Fu-Shi Quan","doi":"10.1016/j.actatropica.2024.107501","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.actatropica.2024.107501","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Protective efficacy assessment of toxoplasmosis vaccines, at least at the preclinical level, frequently involves lethal dose challenge infection. Nonetheless, their efficacies remain largely unexplored against low infection doses which better reflects how humans become infected in the real world. In this study, we compared the immunity elicited in mice that were heterologously immunized with recombinant baculovirus and virus-like particles expressing either the cyst wall protein (CST1) or microneme protein 8 (MIC8) of Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii). We also investigated how these vaccines fared against both light and heavy infection intensities of T. gondii ME49. Interestingly, under light infection intensity, vaccines expressing CST1 induced significantly higher mucosal antibody responses than MIC8. Germinal center B (GC B) cell responses were elicited to a greater extent following immunization with either antigen, regardless of the infection dose. Similarly, both antigens suppressed IFN-γ production in the brains upon heavy infection. The overall vaccine-induced protection was also similar for the two vaccine antigens under heavy infection. However, in lightly infected mice, CST1 conferred improved GC B cell induction and further inhibited IFN-γ and cyst burden than those elicited by MIC8, thereby contributing to better protection. These findings indicated that light infection could be used to identify optimal vaccine candidates, thus highlighting the impact of infection intensity in vaccine efficacy evaluations.</p>","PeriodicalId":7240,"journal":{"name":"Acta tropica","volume":" ","pages":"107501"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2024-12-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142852013","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Corrigendum to \"Identification and characterization of Jingmen tick virus from Rhipicephalus microplus in Hunan, China\" [Acta Tropica 260 (2024) 107378].","authors":"Li Zhang, Wenbo Xu, Yinghua Zhao, Liyan Sui, Mingxin Song, Quan Liu","doi":"10.1016/j.actatropica.2024.107443","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.actatropica.2024.107443","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":7240,"journal":{"name":"Acta tropica","volume":" ","pages":"107443"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2024-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142611943","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Establishment of a programmatic detection method for Trichomonas vaginalis based on double antibody sandwich ELISA targeting TvCP39 antigen.","authors":"Yuhua Li, Fakun Li, Wenjie Tian, Yani Zhang, Weijuan Wang, Zhenke Yang, Xiaowei Tian, Shuai Wang, Xuefang Mei, Zhenchao Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.actatropica.2024.107489","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.actatropica.2024.107489","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Trichomonas vaginalis (T. vaginalis) is a common sexually transmitted parasite that colonizes the human urogenital tract. Programmed and precise detection of T. vaginalis is a key step in preventing and treating trichomoniasis. However, the current detection methods of T. vaginalis, including wet mount microscopy, culture, nested PCR, loop-mediated isothermal amplification, and recombinant enzyme polymerase amplification, have some shortcomings. Therefore, it is urgent to establish a programmed, sensitive, and specific method for detecting T. vaginalis.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>T. vaginalis cysteine protease 39 (TvCP39) was expressed in segments as TvCP39-1 and TvCP39-2, and the polyclonal antibodies were prepared by immunizing rats and rabbits. The concentration of the polyclonal antibodies of anti-rTvCP39-2 and anti-rTvCP39-1 was determined by square matrix titration. The sensitivity and specificity of double antibody sandwich ELISA were analyzed and evaluated by detecting rTvCP39 and T. vaginalis excretory-secretory proteins (TvESPs) diluted in multiple ratios and detecting excretory-secretory proteins of T. vaginalis and other pathogens, respectively. The detection efficiency of wet mount microscopy, nested PCR, and double antibody sandwich ELISA was compared by testing sixty-two clinical samples from vaginal secretions.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The natural TvCP39 protein could be specifically recognized by anti-rTvCP39-1 and anti-rTvCP39-2 antibodies. The concentrations of anti-rTvCP39-2 and anti-rTvCP39-1 polyclonal antibodies were determined to be 0.58 μg/mL and 0.45 μg/mL, respectively. The results of the sensitivity test showed that the detection limits of rTvCP39 and TvESPs by double antibody sandwich ELISA were 1.76 ng/mL and 107.125 μg/mL, respectively. The specificity test results showed that the double antibody sandwich ELISA had a high specificity for the detection of T. vaginalis and did not cross-react with Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Candida albicans, and Lactobacillus. The positive detection rate of clinical samples by double antibody sandwich ELISA was higher than that by wet mount microscopy, and was the same as nested PCR. The sensitivity of double antibody sandwich ELISA was consistent with that of nested PCR. The coincidence rate between double antibody sandwich ELISA and nested PCR was 100% (Kappa=1, P < 0.001).</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The double antibody sandwich ELISA detection method for T. vaginalis established in this study had the advantages of high sensitivity and specificity, and did not require the extraction of genomic DNA. This programmatic and simple detection method was suitable for batch testing of clinical samples and exhibited the potential value in the treatment and prevention of trichomoniasis.</p>","PeriodicalId":7240,"journal":{"name":"Acta tropica","volume":" ","pages":"107489"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2024-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142765444","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"New Techniques and Tools for Mosquito Control.","authors":"Rui-De Xue, Tong-Yan Zhao, Chun-Xiao Li","doi":"10.1016/j.actatropica.2024.107425","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.actatropica.2024.107425","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":7240,"journal":{"name":"Acta tropica","volume":" ","pages":"107425"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2024-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142399094","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Repellent activity of icaridin-impregnated horsecloth against horse flies","authors":"Keisuke Suganuma ,&nbsp;Go Fujita ,&nbsp;Adrian Miki C. Macalanda ,&nbsp;Maria Angenica F. Regilme ,&nbsp;Hiroshi Izumida ,&nbsp;Noboru Inoue ,&nbsp;Tomas J. Acosta","doi":"10.1016/j.actatropica.2024.107485","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.actatropica.2024.107485","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Horseflies are pests that cause discomfort from blood-sucking and disease transmission, and economic losses in the equine industry. This study evaluated the efficacy of horsecloth impregnated with icaridin in reducing horsefly attacks and deterring horseflies. Repellent activities were evaluated under three conditions: treatment 1 (no horsecloth), 2 (horsecloth without icaridin), and 3 (horsecloth impregnated with icaridin), using three native Hokkaido horses (Dosanko) and three mixed-breed horses (Dosanko and Haflinger) in July 2023 at a riding horse club in Hokkaido, Japan. Treatment 3 significantly reduced the number of horseflies. Treatment 2 did not significantly reduce horsefly numbers. Treatments 2 and 3 significantly reduced the number of avoidance actions. The reduction in avoidance actions in treatment 3 was greater than that in treatment 2. Lighter-colored horses experienced fewer fly attacks and avoidance actions than darker-colored horses. Overall, using icaridin-impregnated horsecloths (treatment 3) was more effective for repelling horseflies than the use of physical barriers alone (treatment 2). This study suggests that integrating chemical repellents with physical protection can enhance horsefly control strategies, improve horse welfare, and improve the safety of horses interacting with them. Further research is recommended to assess the generalizability of these findings to different horse breeds and environments with a greater number of horses.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7240,"journal":{"name":"Acta tropica","volume":"260 ","pages":"Article 107485"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2024-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142743047","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Evidence of endogenous non-retroviral RNA virus sequences into the genome and transcriptome of the malaria vector Anopheles darlingi","authors":"Juan C. Hernandez-Valencia ,&nbsp;Paola Muñoz-Laiton ,&nbsp;Giovan F. Gómez ,&nbsp;Margarita M. Correa","doi":"10.1016/j.actatropica.2024.107469","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.actatropica.2024.107469","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The characterization of non-retroviral integrated RNA virus sequences (NIRVS) in mosquitoes has emerged as a significant area of research that could yield insight into virus-host interactions. This study aimed to characterize NIRVS in the <em>Anopheles darlingi</em> reference genome and identify putative transcribed NIRVS in field-collected mosquitoes from Colombia. The <em>An. darlingi</em> reference genome was analyzed to identify and characterize NIRVS by conducting a BLAST query with all the virus sequences previously identified in arthropods available in the NCBI-virus repository. In addition, <em>An. darlingi</em> field-collected mosquitoes were examined for NIRVS using a metatranscriptomic approach. As a result, 44 NIRVS were identified in the <em>An. darlingi</em> genome, constituting integrations of negative single-stranded RNA viruses (ssRNA-) from the families <em>Rhabdoviridae, Chuviridae</em> and <em>Phasmaviridae</em>, and integrations of double-stranded RNA viruses (dsRNA) from the families <em>Partitiviridae</em> and <em>Sedoreoviridae</em>. These NIRVS were not randomly distributed but clustered in specific regions of the genome enriched with BEL/Pao and Ty3/Gypsy long terminal repeat elements. Furthermore, putative NIRVS-like sequences were present in the transcriptomic data from all the Colombian <em>An. darlingi</em> natural populations. This study is significant as it represents the first identification of NIRVS in the most important malaria vector of the Neotropics. The findings help in understanding the intricate relationship between the mosquito and its virome, and the regulation of viruses’ mechanisms in the <em>Anopheles</em> genus.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7240,"journal":{"name":"Acta tropica","volume":"260 ","pages":"Article 107469"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2024-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142643686","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}