Cecílio P, Cordeiro-da-Silva A, Oliveira F. Sand flies: Basic information on the vectors of leishmaniasis and their interactions with Leishmania parasites.
Commun Biol 2022;
5:305. [PMID:
35379881 PMCID:
PMC8979968 DOI:
10.1038/s42003-022-03240-z]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 26.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2021] [Accepted: 03/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Blood-sucking arthropods transmit a variety of human pathogens acting as disseminators of the so-called vector-borne diseases. Leishmaniasis is a spectrum of diseases caused by different Leishmania species, transmitted quasi worldwide by sand flies. However, whereas many laboratories focus on the disease(s) and etiological agents, considerably less study the respective vectors. In fact, information on sand flies is neither abundant nor easy to find; aspects including basic biology, ecology, and sand-fly-Leishmania interactions are usually reported separately. Here, we compile elemental information on sand flies, in the context of leishmaniasis. We discuss the biology, distribution, and life cycle, the blood-feeding process, and the Leishmania-sand fly interactions that govern parasite transmission. Additionally, we highlight some outstanding questions that need to be answered for the complete understanding of parasite–vector–host interactions in leishmaniasis.
In this review, numerous aspects of sand flies as vectors of Leishmania parasites—from biology to the vector parasite interactions—are discussed.
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