Fig. 8

In vivo inhibition of Leishmania chagasi binding to Lutzomyia longipalpis midgut by anti-rLulo antibodies. Lu. longipalpis females were fed with Leishmania chagasi wild type in blood reconstituted with anti-rLulo serum (anti-serum) or normal rabbit blood (control serum). Day 2 dissections were before defecation, day 4 and 7 dissections were after defecation. Parasite loads were classified into three categories: heavy (more than 1000 parasites per gut; black bars); moderate (100–1000 parasites per gut; striped bars); light (1–100 parasites per gut; white bars). Numbers above the bars indicate the number of dissected females. On day 2 post-infection, both groups of sand flies initially produced heavy or moderate parasite loads in the abdominal midgut. However, after defecation on day 4, intensity of infection was slightly lower in sand flies fed on blood with anti-rLulo serum. In the following days, both groups developed uniformly, with heavy infection in all dissected guts. Data are from two representative experiments