ABSTRACT
Ability of Phlebotomus argentipes to acquire Leishmania donovani the causative agent of Indian Kala-azar was evaluated in the laboratory. Flies were fed artificially on infected blood suspensions, using a chick-skin-membrane feeding apparatus, and naturally on Leishmania donovani infected mice. In addition flies collected from different endemic areas were dissected and examined for natural infection. Flies fed on infected mice showed significantly higher feeding rate (14.4%, p < 0.01) compared to that of other experiments (9%, 8.75%) but the percentage of infection was very low (2.43%). No Chi-square comparison was made between infection rate and feeding rate because of low value in infection rate (less than 5). Flies dissected for natural infection showed only 0.1% infection. Not much difference was observed in the intensity of Leishmania donovani infection in the mid gut of sandflies examined from any of these experiments. These observations have confirmed that Phlebotomus argentipes has ability to acquire infection and it provides the final piece of evidence that Phlebotomus argentipes is the vector of Leishmania donovani in Bihar State.
Subject(s)
Animals , Cells, Cultured , Disease Vectors , Female , Humans , India , Leishmania donovani/isolation & purification , Leishmaniasis, Visceral/transmission , Mice , Mice, Inbred BALB C , Phlebotomus/parasitologyABSTRACT
Knowing the exact breeding places inside the habitat is very important to plan the larval control strategy. Information regarding larval biology in relation to different seasons will be more useful to organize insecticide spray schedule at a particular month of maximum immature density to bring down the adult sandfly density. In the present study, maximum number of soil samples were found positive in the month of January and minimum in the month of September. Maximum positive soil samples were collected from cattle sheds, minimum in mixed dwellings and in case of human dwellings all soil samples were negative. Comparison of two methods for the isolation of immature stages showed that direct microscopic observation is superior to sugar flotation technique.
Subject(s)
Animals , Disease Reservoirs , Humans , India , Insect Control/methods , Insect Vectors/physiology , Larva/physiology , Leishmaniasis, Visceral/prevention & control , Population Density , Psychodidae/physiology , Seasons , SoilABSTRACT
A significant amount of pyroglutamate aminopeptidase (PGAP) activity was found to be present in 27,000 x g supernatant of rat submaxillary gland, maximum activity being at pH 6.5. EDTA stimulated the enzyme activity by 95% at pH 8.0 while at pH 6.5 it did not have any significant effect. On comparison of its properties submaxillary PGAP appears to be different from brain, pituitary and other reported PGAPs. Submaxillary PGAP could also catalyze efficiently the formation of cyclo (His-Pro) from TRH. Cyclo (His-Pro) formation by submaxillary enzyme was more pronounced than that by liver PGAP.
Subject(s)
Animals , Brain/enzymology , Cell Fractionation , Kinetics , Liver/enzymology , Male , Pyroglutamyl-Peptidase I/isolation & purification , Rats , Submandibular Gland/enzymologyABSTRACT
Trypsin immobilized by covalent coupling to silanized silica shows significant activity (30-38%) and greater thermostability as compared to soluble trypsin. Proteolytic processing of albumin at varying periods suggest that the enzyme matrix can be used efficiently for limited proteolysis. Repeated use of the immobilized enzyme in protein digestion produces similar products as seen by electrophoretic analysis. Also, digestion of albumin by the immobilized enzyme follows similar pattern as that by soluble enzyme. The enzyme matrix can be easily removed from the incubation mixture. The results indicate the possibility of the immobilized enzyme for its effective application as analytical tool in peptide mapping and limited proteolytic processing.