期刊名称：Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
印刷版ISSN：0027-8424
电子版ISSN：1091-6490
出版年度：2015
卷号：112
期号：26
页码：8088-8093
DOI：10.1073/pnas.1413835112
语种：English
出版社：The National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
摘要：SignificanceRickettsia felis is a ubiquitous, recently described human pathogen that has been identified as an important cause of unexplained fever in patients in sub-Saharan Africa. The epidemiology of R. felis infection, including its potential arthropod vectors, is poorly understood, however. The results of our experimental model of infection suggest that Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes, the primary malarial vectors in sub-Saharan Africa, have the potential to be vectors of R. felis infection. A growing number of recent reports have implicated Rickettsia felis as a human pathogen, paralleling the increasing detection of R. felis in arthropod hosts across the globe, primarily in fleas. Here Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes, the primary malarial vectors in sub-Saharan Africa, were fed with either blood meal infected with R. felis or infected cellular media administered in membrane feeding systems. In addition, a group of mosquitoes was fed on R. felis-infected BALB/c mice. The acquisition and persistence of R. felis in mosquitoes was demonstrated by quantitative PCR detection of the bacteria up to day 15 postinfection. R. felis was detected in mosquito feces up to day 14. Furthermore, R. felis was visualized by immunofluorescence in salivary glands, in and around the gut, and in the ovaries, although no vertical transmission was observed. R. felis was also found in the cotton used for sucrose feeding after the mosquitoes were fed infected blood. Natural bites from R. felis-infected An. gambiae were able to cause transient rickettsemias in mice, indicating that this mosquito species has the potential to be a vector of R. felis infection. This is particularly important given the recent report of high prevalence of R. felis infection in patients with "fever of unknown origin" in malaria-endemic areas.
