Increased blood meal size and feeding frequency compromise Aedes aegypti midgut integrity and enhance dengue virus dissemination.

ABSTRACT: Aedes aegypti is a highly efficient vector for numerous pathogenic arboviruses including dengue virus (DENV), Zika virus, and yellow fever virus. This efficiency can in part be attributed to their frequent feeding behavior. We previously found that acquisition of a second, full, non-infectious blood meal could accelerate virus dissemination within the mosquito by temporarily compromising midgut basal lamina integrity; however, in the wild, mosquitoes are often interrupted during feeding and only acquire partial or minimal blood meals. To explore the impact of this feeding behavior further, we examined the effects of partial blood feeding on DENV dissemination rates and midgut basal lamina damage in Ae. aegypti. DENV-infected mosquitoes given a secondary partial blood meal had intermediate

SUBMITTER: Johnson RM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10619875 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature