Effect of polyclonal antibodies applied by artificial feeding to Rhipicephalus microplus ticks

• Autor(a) principal: Antunes, Sandra
• Data de Publicação: 2018
• Outros Autores: Lérias, Joana, Merino, Octávio, do Rosário, Virgílio, de la Fuente, José, Domingos, Ana
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: https://doi.org/10.25761/anaisihmt.191

Ticks are obligate haematophagous ectoparasites that can transmit a wide variety of pathogens being considered the principal vectors of disease among animals. The piroplasms Babesia bigemina and B. bovis are transmited mainly by Rhipicephalus microplus and R. annulatus ticks. Acaricides are still the most common method of tick control despite the disadvantages presented by them. Anti-tick vaccines despite promising are still inadequate mainly due to the lack of effective antigens. Calreticulin has been identified as being involved in B. bigemina infection in R. annulatus ticks in a prior study. It is essential to characterize this antigen before using it on a vaccination trial. A low cost alternative to test antigens is the observation of the biological effects caused by the inoculation of substances or antibodies against that antigen. Tick artificial feeding, even though it doesn´t substitute vaccination trials in cattle, it allows to achieve critical data that for sure will optimize resources. Herein polyclonal antibodies raised against calreticulin were supplemented to a blood meal, offered in capillary tubes to partially engorged R. microplus females and their effect in feeding process as well as infection was analyzed.