Rhodnius prolixus is the main triatomine insect vector of Chagas Disease, which affects between 6 and 8 million individuals, with approximately 12,000 deaths per year in Latin America. Azadirachtin is a drug that causes changes in several species of insects, including triatomines, thereby inhibiting their development.

This work exploits Low-Energy X-Ray Microfluorescence (LEXRF) to evaluate the distribution of oxygen and sodium in the structures of the insect Rhodnius prolixus, and to understand the effects of azadirachtin treatment. Specimens of fifth-instar nymphs of Rhodnius prolixus were taken from the colony of the Laboratory of Biochemistry and Physiology of Insects (Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (FIOCRUZ), Brazil) and were divided in two groups. In the first group, the insects were fed with defibrinated rabbit blood containing azadirachtin and the other group only with simply defibrinated rabbit blood. Both groups were examined at the TwinMic soft X-ray microscopy synchrotron beamline, (Elettra Sincrotrone Trieste, Trieste, Italy), providing elemental map distribution of oxygen which was correlated to the high-resolution morphological information obtained by the simultaneous absorption and differential phase contrast images.

Prior to Low-Energy X-Ray Microfluorescence (LEXRF) measurements two control samples were scanned at the SYRMEP beamline (Elettra Sincrotrone Trieste, Trieste, Italy) by microtomography for an overview of the structures that were subsequently studied at TwinMic. The results allowed us to compare the differences in structures of the head of Rhodnius prolixus providing new insights into the insect's development that may be of significance toward the control of the Chagas Disease.

Rhodnius prolixus是恰加斯病的主要三类昆虫媒介，影响了6到800万人，拉丁美洲每年约有12,000人死亡。印苦ach子素是一种药物，其可引起包括三氢嘧啶在内的几种昆虫的变化，从而抑制其发育。

这项工作利用低能X射线微荧光（LEXRF）来评估昆虫Rhodnius prolixus的结构中氧和钠的分布，并了解印za素的治疗效果。罗非鱼五龄若虫的标本取自昆虫生物化学和生理学实验室（巴西奥斯瓦尔多·克鲁兹基金会（FIOCRUZ））的殖民地，分为两组。在第一组中，昆虫被喂食了含有印za素的去纤维化兔血，而另一组仅被喂食了简单去纤维化兔血。两组均在TwinMic软X射线显微镜同步加速器射线线（意大利的里雅斯特的Elettra Sincrotrone的里雅斯特）进行了检查，提供了氧的元素图分布，该分布与通过同时吸收和差分相衬获得的高分辨率形态信息相关图片。

在进行低能X射线微荧光（LEXRF）测量之前，通过显微断层扫描在SYRMEP光束线（意大利的里雅斯特的Elettra Sincrotrone Trieste，Elettra Sincrotrone Trieste）上扫描了两个对照样品，以概述随后在TwinMic研究的结构。研究结果使我们能够比较罗多氏红球菌头部结构的差异，从而为昆虫的发育提供新见解，这可能对控制南美锥虫病具有重要意义。