National Research Center for Protozoan Diseases, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Inada-cho, Obihiro, Hokkaido, 080-8555, Japan.
Department of Tropical Medicine, The Jikei University School of Medicine, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 105-8461, Japan.
Sci Rep. 2024 Sep 28;14(1):22528. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-73421-9.
Mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue and filariasis are a growing public health concern in endemic countries. Biological approaches, such as the trans-infection of Wolbachia pipientis in mosquitoes, are an alternative vector control strategy, especially for arthropod-borne viruses such as dengue. In the present study, the effect of Wolbachia (wMel strain) on the vectorial capacity of Aedes aegypti for Dirofilaria immitis was studied. Our results showed that Wolbachia does not affect the phenotype of mosquito survival or the prevalence, number, and molting rate of third-stage larvae in both susceptible and resistant strains of Ae. aegypti. RNA-seq analysis of Malpighian tubules at 2 days post-infection with D. immitis showed the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) with and without wMel infection. No characteristic immune-related gene expression patterns were observed among the DEGs. No significant change in the amount of Wolbachia was observed in the Ae. aegypti after D. immitis infection. Our results suggest that infection of D. immitis in Ae. aegypti populations will not interfere with Wolbachia-based vector control strategies in dengue-endemic areas where cases of D. immitis are present. This study demonstrated the veterinary medical validity of a dengue control program using Wolbachia.
蚊媒疾病（如登革热和血丝虫病）是流行地区日益严重的公共卫生问题。生物方法，如沃尔巴克氏体（Wolbachia pipientis）在蚊子中的转感染，是一种替代的病媒控制策略，特别是对于登革热等节肢动物传播的病毒。本研究旨在研究沃尔巴克氏体（wMel 株）对埃及伊蚊传播犬心丝虫能力的影响。我们的结果表明，沃尔巴克氏体不会影响蚊子的生存表型，也不会影响埃及伊蚊敏感和抗性品系中第三期幼虫的流行率、数量和蜕皮率。感染犬心丝虫后 2 天对马氏管进行 RNA-seq 分析，显示有无 wMel 感染的差异表达基因（DEGs）。在 DEGs 中未观察到特征性的免疫相关基因表达模式。感染犬心丝虫后，埃及伊蚊体内的沃尔巴克氏体数量没有明显变化。我们的研究结果表明，在登革热流行地区，犬心丝虫感染不会干扰基于沃尔巴克氏体的病媒控制策略，这些地区存在登革热病例。本研究证明了使用沃尔巴克氏体控制登革热的兽医医学有效性。
