Plasmodium-associated changes in human odor attract mosquitoes
File(s)PNAS_Robinson.doc (1.19 MB)
Accepted version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Malaria parasites (Plasmodium) can change the attractiveness of their vertebrate hosts to Anopheles vectors, leading to a greater number of vector-host contacts and increased transmission. Indeed, naturally Plasmodium-infected children have been shown to attract more mosquitoes than parasite-free children. Here, we demonstrate Plasmodium-induced increases in the attractiveness of skin odor in Kenyan children, and reveal quantitative differences in the production of specific odor components in infected, versus parasite-free, individuals. We found the aldehydes heptanal, octanal and nonanal to be produced in greater amounts by infected individuals, and detected by mosquito antennae. In behavioral experiments, we demonstrated that these, and other, Plasmodium-induced aldehydes enhanced the attractiveness of a synthetic odor blend mimicking ‘healthy’ human odor. Heptanal alone increased the attractiveness of ‘parasite-free’ natural human odor. Should the increased production of these aldehydes by Plasmodium-infected humans lead to increased mosquito biting in a natural setting, this would likely affect the transmission of malaria.
Date Issued
2018-05-01
Date Acceptance
2018-03-22
Citation
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2018, 115 (18), pp.E4209-E4218
ISSN
0027-8424
Publisher
National Academy of Sciences
Start Page
E4209
End Page
E4218
Journal / Book Title
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Volume
115
Issue
18
Copyright Statement
© 2018 The Author(s) Published under the PNAS license (http://www.pnas.org/page/authors/licenses).
Subjects
Science & Technology
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Science & Technology - Other Topics
malaria transmission
host attractiveness
parasite-vector-host interactions
aldehydes
disease biomarkers
LEISHMANIA-MEXICANA-AMAZONENSIS
RAPID DIAGNOSTIC-TESTS
HUMAN SKIN EMANATIONS
AEDES-AEGYPTI
FALCIPARUM MALARIA
VIVAX GAMETOCYTES
MASS-SPECTROMETRY
QUANTITATIVE PCR
LUNG-CANCER
IN-VIVO
parasite–vector–host interactions
Animals
Anopheles
Child
Child, Preschool
Female
Humans
Malaria
Male
Mosquito Vectors
Odorants
Plasmodium
MD Multidisciplinary
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2018-04-17