Mosquitoes of the Aedes genus transmit arboviruses of great importance to human health as dengue, chikungunya, Zika and yellow fever. The tiger mosquito Aedes albopictus can play an important role as arboviral vector, especially when Aedes aegypti is absent or present at low levels. Remarkably, the rapid worldwide spreading of the tiger mosquito is expanding the risk of arboviral transmission also to temperate areas, and the autochthonous cases of chikungunya, dengue and Zika in Europe emphasize the need for improved monitoring and control. Proteomic and transcriptomic studies on blood feeding arthropod salivary proteins paved the way toward the exploitation of genus-specific mosquito salivary proteins for the development of novel tools to evaluate human exposure to mosquito bites. We previously found that the culicine-specific 34k2 salivary protein from Ae. albopictus (al34k2) evokes specific IgG responses in experimentally exposed mice, and provided preliminary evidence of its immunogenicity to humans. In this study we measured IgG responses to al34k2 and to Ae. albopictus salivary gland protein extracts (SGE) in individuals naturally exposed to the tiger mosquito. Sera were collected in two areas of Northeast Italy (Padova and Belluno) during two different time periods: at the end of the low- and shortly after the high-density mosquito seasons. Anti-SGE and anti-al34k2 IgG levels increased after the summer period of exposure to mosquito bites and were higher in Padova as compared to Belluno. An age-dependent decrease of anti-saliva IgG responses was found especially in Padova, an area with at least 25 years history of Ae. albopictus colonization. Moreover, a weak correlation between anti-saliva IgG levels and individual perception of mosquito bites by study participants was found. Finally, determination of anti-al34k2 IgG1 and IgG4 levels indicated a large predominance of IgG1 antibodies. Overall, this study provides a convincing indication that antibody responses to al34k2 may be regarded as a reliable candidate marker to detect temporal and/or spatial variation of human exposure to Ae. albopictus; a serological tool of this kind may prove useful both for epidemiological studies and to estimate the effectiveness of anti-vectorial measures.

蚊子 伊蚊属传播对人类健康极为重要的虫媒病毒，如登革热，基孔肯雅热，寨卡病毒和黄热病。老虎蚊子白纹伊蚊 可以作为病毒载体发挥重要作用，尤其是当 埃及伊蚊缺少或含量低。值得注意的是，老虎蚊子在世界范围内的迅速蔓延正在将虫媒病毒传播的风险也扩大到温带地区，欧洲基孔肯雅热，登革热和寨卡病毒的本地病例强调需要加强监测和控制。血液中节肢动物唾液蛋白的蛋白质组学和转录组学研究为利用特定属的蚊唾液蛋白铺平了道路，从而开发了评估人类接触蚊虫叮咬的新工具。我们之前发现，来自culicine的34k2唾液蛋白来自e 白化病（al34k2）在实验暴露的小鼠中引起特异性IgG反应，并提供了其对人类免疫原性的初步证据。在这项研究中，我们测量了IgG对al34k2和e 白化病自然接触老虎蚊子的人的唾液腺蛋白提取物（SGE）。在两个不同的时期内，在意大利东北部的两个地区（帕多瓦和贝卢诺）采集了血清：低密度蚊帐结束时和低密度蚊帐结束后不久。与贝卢诺相比，夏季暴露于蚊虫叮咬后，抗SGE和抗al34k2 IgG水平升高，而在帕多瓦则更高。尤其是在帕多瓦（Padova）发现了年龄依赖性的抗唾液IgG反应降低，该地区至少有25年的历史e 白化病殖民化。此外，研究参与者发现抗唾液IgG水平与个人对蚊虫叮咬的感知之间存在弱相关性。最后，确定抗al34k2 IgG1和IgG4水平表明IgG1抗体占很大优势。总的来说，这项研究提供了令人信服的指示，即对al34k2的抗体反应可被视为检测人类暴露于时间和/或空间变化的可靠候选标记。e 白化病; 这种血清学工具可能对流行病学研究和评估反媒介措施的有效性均有用。