Sugar feeding protects against arboviral infection by enhancing gut immunity in the mosquito vector Aedes aegypti.

ABSTRACT: As mosquito females require a blood meal to reproduce, they can act as vectors of numerous pathogens, such as arboviruses (e.g. Zika, dengue and chikungunya viruses), which constitute a substantial worldwide public health burden. In addition to blood meals, mosquito females can also take sugar meals to get carbohydrates for their energy reserves. It is now recognised that diet is a key regulator of health and disease outcome through interactions with the immune system. However, this has been mostly studied in humans and model organisms. So far, the impact of sugar feeding on mosquito immunity and in turn, how this could affect vector competence for arboviruses has not been explored. Here, we show that sugar feeding increases and maintains antiviral immunity in the digestive tract of the ma

SUBMITTER: Almire F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8412342 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature