Blood Feeding Sources of Nyssomyia antunesi (Diptera: Psychodidae): A Suspected Vector of Leishmania (Kinetoplastida: Trypanosomatidae) in the Brazilian Amazon

Abstract

Present work aimed to identify blood feeding sources and attempt to detect Leishmania DNA in Nyssomyia antunesi, suspected vector of Leishmania sp., from a park in the urban center of Belém, the capital of Pará State, in the Brazilian Amazon. Entire bodies and gut contents of Ny. antunesi engorged females, previously captured in the urban park with Centers for Disease Control (CDC) light traps and aspiration on tree bases, were subjected to Leishmania and vertebrate DNA detection through amplification of the Leishmania mini-exon and vertebrate cytochrome b (cyt b) gene regions, respectively. The quality of DNA extraction from entire bodies was ensured through amplification of the dipteran cyt b region. The vertebrate cyt b amplicons were sequenced and compared with those available on GenBank. A maximum likelihood phylogenetic tree was constructed to assess the clustering patterns of these sequences. Leishmania DNA was not detected. The sequences of 13 vertebrate cyt b amplicons were considered informative, exhibiting similarity and clustering with the following six vertebrate species: Dasyprocta leporina (1), Cuniculus paca (1), Tamandua tetradactyla (4), Choloepus didactylus (4), Pteroglossus aracari aracari (2), Homo sapiens (1). The samples of D. leporina and C. paca were obtained from the CDC canopy, whereas the others were by aspiration from tree bases. The present results revealed the eclectic and opportunist blood-feeding behavior of Ny. antunesi, with birds and mammals, these last ones acting as potential reservoirs for Leishmania species, distributed throughout the vertical forest strata.

Experimental Susceptibility of Nyssomyia antunesi and Lutzomyia longipalpis (Psychodidae: Phlebotominae) to Leishmania (Viannia) lainsoni and L. (V.) lindenbergi (Trypanosomatidae: Leishmaniinae)

“…Although the unknown life status of these specimens and an apparently low number of assessments may compromise experimental reproducibility, it is believed that the field background brought about by nature adds pivotal elements for genuine parasite-vector interactions. Nyssomyia antunesi has been recognized as a suspected vector of L. (V.) lindenbergi based on some eco-epidemiological evidence [19][20][21], although no natural infection has been ascribed to this parasite. The present findings demonstrate that Ny.…”

“…Ubiquitalis and Th. brachipyga, have been shown to be involved in transmission [18]; ultimately, for L. (V.) lindenbergi, Nyssomyia antunesi has received attention due to its abundance, dominance, spatiotemporal convergence with human disease, blood feeding on human and potential reservoirs of Leishmania [19,20]. Despite the lack of evidence of true and species-specific identifiable Leishmania infection, the vector role of Ny.…”

Phlebotomine sand flies (Psychodidae: Phlebotominae) in an area of canine infection caused by Leishmania infantum in the state of Amapá, eastern Amazon

“…Although the epidemiological importance of E. walker is unknown, the species was recently found to be naturally infected with L. braziliensis DNA in Amazon region (De Ávila et al, 2018). The second-most abundant species, N. antunesi (21%) has tested positive for Leishmania DNA, suggesting its potential role as vector of Leishmania species (Pereira et al, 2019;Costa et al, 2021;Pimentel et al, 2022). In Central-Western Brazil, the pooled N. antunesi DNA sample was also found to be positive for L. chagasi (Thies et al, 2013).…”