A study conducted on mice shows that it is possible to use mosquito saliva as protection against the disease malaria. Study by University of Notre Dame in Indiana Researchers have claimed that exposure to the saliva of a mosquito can protect us from malaria. The saliva of a sand fly is being experimented on to be used as a vaccine to the skin disease, Leishmanias. Studies show that if the components of an infected mosquito that gives defense can be broken down to simpler compounds, they can be used to enhance vaccines for malaria.

It is seen that people in Africa or Middle East have greater immunity towards these diseases as compared to people from other parts of the world. ‘In some areas people can get up to a thousand mosquito bites a day. That’s a lot of mosquito spit,’ New Scientist quoted Mary Ann McDowell, an Immunoparasitologist at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, as saying.

The test conducted showed that the mice exposed to only saliva had lower amount of parasites in their liver and blood. The immune system started producing infection-fighting chemicals called cytokines, which are usually linked with immune cells called T-helper 1 (TH1) cells in reaction to the saliva.

‘Mice that were pre-exposed to mosquito saliva had lower amounts of the malaria parasite in their liver and blood. Progress is already being made on vaccines for Leishmaniasis. The proteins in sand fly spit that stimulate the TH1 response have already been identified,’ said Jesus Valenzuela, a biochemist at National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) in Bethesda, Maryland who studies Leishmaniasis. The immune system started producing infection-fighting chemicals called cytokines, which are usually linked with immune cells called T-helper 1 (TH1) cells in reaction to the saliva.

Though the results show positive signs of having a malaria vaccine researchers say more tests are required before components of the saliva can be used to prepare malaria vaccine for human beings. McDowell’s team is looking for the particular salivary protein responsible for making the immune system release cytokines. After which researchers will test if it will have the same effect on humans.

(www.vaccinerx.com)