Journal
INFECTION AND IMMUNITY
Volume 76, Issue 12, Pages 5543-5552Publisher
AMER SOC MICROBIOLOGY
DOI: 10.1128/IAI.00683-08
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Funding
- International Foundation for Science [F/3619-1, F/2887-3]
- Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Tecnologico (CNPq)
- Fundacao de Amparo a Pesquisa Carlos Chagas Filho do Estado do Rio de Janeiro [E-26/110.401/2007]
- NIH/NCRR [5G12RR008124, 1R01AI070655, 2506GM00812-37]
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Trypanosoma cruzi, the etiological agent of Chagas disease, is transmitted by bug feces deposited on human skin during a blood meal. However, parasite infection occurs through the wound produced by insect mouth-parts. Saliva of the Triatominae bug Rhodnius prolixus is a source of lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC). Here, we tested the role of both triatomine saliva and LPC on parasite transmission. We show that vector saliva is a powerful inducer of cell chemotaxis. A massive number of inflammatory cells were found at the sites where LPC or saliva was inoculated into the skin of mice. LPC is a known chemoattractant for monocytes, but neutrophil recruitment induced by saliva is LPC independent. The preincubation of peritoneal macrophages with saliva or LPC increased fivefold the association of T. cruzi with these cells. Moreover, saliva and LPC block nitric oxide production by T. cruzi-exposed macrophages. The injection of saliva or LPC into mouse skin in the presence of the parasite induces an up-to-sixfold increase in blood parasitemia. Together, our data suggest that saliva of the Triatominae enhances T. cruzi transmission and that some of its biological effects are attributed to LPC. This is a demonstration that a vector-derived lysophospholipid may act as an enhancing factor of Chagas disease.
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