insects and ticks. Perhaps for this reason a variety of salivary anti-hemostatic compounds are found in this diverse group of arthropods. Many different salivary anti-clotting and antiplatelet agents and vasodilators have been described. Salivary vasodilators range from inorganic nitric oxide to prostaglandins, various different peptides and enzymes that destroy norepinephrine. Several anti-clo...

BACKGROUND Sand fly saliva plays a crucial role in establishing Leishmania infection. We identified adenosine (ADO) and adenosine monophosphate (AMP) as active pharmacologic compounds present in Phlebotomus papatasi saliva that inhibit dendritic cell (DC) functions through a PGE2/IL 10-dependent mechanism. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS Herein, we prepared a mixture of ADO and AMP in equimola...

Phlebotomine sand flies (Diptera: Psychodidae) are the principal vectors of phleboviruses and Leishmania spp., causative agents leishmaniases. The Mediterranean fly fauna is diverse, leishmaniasis, mainly caused by infantum, endemic in Balkan countries. Despite recent entomological surveys, only some districts Kosovo have been sampled for flies, with no proof/confirmation L. infantum. This stud...

reports from the health center of kerman province, southern iran showed an increasing of cutaneous leishmaniasis cases in orzuieh rural district, southwest of the province in 2003. the report encouraged the team to carry out an epidemi ological survey in the district during 2003-2004. the objectives were to determine the ecology of sand flies, potential reser voir hosts and human infection. a t...

A 2-year survey was carried out from May to November 2008 and 2009 to study the sand fly species composition, its seasonal phenology and density in Apulia region (southern, Italy). The study was conducted in a dog shelter located in a new residential urban district where Leishmania infantum is endemic. Sand flies were collected using sticky traps from May to November, at about 7-day intervals. ...

Background: Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is a serious public health problem in many tropical countries. The infection is caused by a protozoan parasite of Leishmania genus transmitted by Phlebotominae sandflies. In the present study, we constructed a eukaryotic expression vector to produce a fusion protein containing LmSTI1 from Leishmania major (L. major) and PpSP42 from Phlebotomus papatasi (...