Eicosanoids affect the
immunity of several pathogen/
insect models, but their
role on the
Anopheles gambiae response to
Plasmodium is still unknown.
Plasmodium berghei-infected
mosquitoes were injected with an
eicosanoid biosynthesis inhibitor,
indomethacin (IN), or a substrate,
arachidonic acid (AA), at day 7 or day 12 post-
infection (p.i.).
Salivary gland invasion was evaluated by
sporozoite counts at day 21 p.i. IN promoted
infection upon
sporozoite release from
oocysts, but inhibited
infection when
sporozoites were still maturing within the
oocysts, as observed by a reduction in the number of
sporozoites reaching the
salivary glands. AA
treatment had the opposite effect. We show for the first
time that An. gambiae can modulate
parasite survival through
eicosanoids by exerting an antagonistic or agonistic effect on the
parasite, depending on its stage of development.