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Infect. Immun. doi:10.1128/IAI.01046-06
Copyright (c) 2006, American Society for Microbiology and/or the Listed Authors/Institutions. All Rights Reserved.

Tsetse fly saliva accelerates the onset of a Trypanosoma brucei infection in a mouse model associated with a reduced host inflammatory response

Unit of Cellular and Molecular Immunology, Flanders Interuniversity Institute for Biotechnology (VIB), Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Pleinlaan 2, B-1050 Brussels, Belgium,; Unit of Entomology, Prins Leopold Institute of Tropical Medicine (ITM), Nationalestraat 155, B-2000 Antwerp, Belgium

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: gucaljon{at}vub.ac.be,

	Abstract

Tsetse flies (Glossina sp.) are the vectors that transmit African trypanosomes, protozoan parasites that cause human sleeping sickness and veterinary infections in the African continent. These bloodfeeding dipteran insects deposit saliva at the feeding site that enables the blood feeding process. Here we demonstrate that tsetse fly saliva also accelerates the onset of a Trypanosoma brucei infection. This effect was associated with a reduced inflammatory reaction at the site of infection initiation (reflected by a decrease of IL-6 and IL-12 mRNA) as well as lower serum concentrations of the trypanocidal cytokine TNF. VSG (variant-specific surface glycoprotein)-specific antibody isotypes IgM and IgG2a, implicated in trypanosome clearance, were not suppressed. We propose that tsetse fly saliva accelerates the onset of trypanosome infection by inhibiting local and systemic inflammatory responses involved in parasite control.