Fate of ingested immunoglobulin G in the mosquito Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae).

The amount of bloodmeals ingested by Aedes aegypti was estimated to be 3.00 +/- 1.05 mg (2.84 +/- 0.99 microliters) in average. The feeding time of a mosquito was not necessarily associated with the quantity of the bloodmeal. Nevertheless, the number of egg laid after bloodfeeding was apparently dependent on the volume of ingested bloodmeals. The change of immunoglobulin G (IgG) in the ingested bloodmeals of Aedes aegypti was also evaluated by ELISA. To detect the survival of ingested IgG, 5-day-old adult female mosquitoes were allowed to feed on a human arm. After completion of feeding, 3 engorged mosquitoes were selected on the basis of 6-hour intervals until the 54th hour post ingestion. Selected specimens were deprived of their legs and wings, homgenized and centrifuged. The supernatants were collected for ELISA procedure. The control groups included the blank (PBS) and unfed mosquitoes. All OD405 values representing the amount of IgG in the ingested bloodmeal were evaluated as 1.702 +/- 0.017, 0.469 +/- 0.046, 0.414 +/- 0.084, 0.231 +/- 0.012, 0.180 +/- 0.025, 0.172 +/- 0.006, 0.163 +/- 0.012, 0.173 +/- 0.007, 0.168 +/- 0.012, and 0.169 +/- 0.014, respectively for each interval. A blood sample taken from the same person fed to mosquitoes was evaluated to be 1.716 +/- 0.012. The OD405 values of the blank and the unfed group were 0.156 +/- 0.019 and 0.159 +/- 0.009, respectively. The result showed that IgG ingested by Aedes aegypti may be digested vigorously within 6 hours.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)