[Detection of Babesia canis (Piroplasmida) DNA in the blood samples and lysates of the ticks Dermacentor reticulatus (Ixodidae) collected in the Tula and Moscow Regions].

Chimeric primers, the sensitivity and specificity of which allow them to be used in both the clinical setting and the epizootological assessment of tick infection by a real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay, have been designed against Babesia canis infection. The findings suggest that a large number of Babesia DNA copies are detectable in the blood in acute babesiosis. Some animals that had experienced babesiosis developed blood B.

Prevalence of borreliosis, anaplasmosis, ehrlichiosis and Dirofilaria immitis in dogs and vectors in Voronezh Reserve (Russia).

Most of the dogs studied for the prevalence of CVBD have previously received acaricidal and insecticidal treatments. In the present work, a very specific population of dogs (Group 1) that had never been treated against ticks and mosquitoes was studied. Moreover, the territory occupied by this population has also never been treated, because it is a protected area--Voronezh Natural Reserve.

[Immunomodulating effect of an Ixodes persulcatus (Ixodidae) tick salivary gland extract on BALB/c mice lymphocytes in an in vitro system].

The immunomodulating effect of the components of an Ixodes persulcatus (Ixodidae) tick salivary gland extract (SGE) on BALB/c mice lymphocytes was evaluated. SGE of partially engorged ticks at a concentration of 50 microg/ml causes the maximum suppression ofT- and B-lymphocyte subpopulations. SGE of hungry ticks at the same concentration induces the suppression of only CD69+ T cells and TLR-2+ B cells, but produces no suppressive effect on CD69+ B lymphocytes, TLR-2+ T lymphocytes, and TLR-4+ T and B lymphocytes.

[Search for protective antigens in Ixodes persulcatus (ixodidae) salivary gland extracts].

RT-PCR evaluation of the activity of eight Ixodes persulcatus salivary gland genes shows clear distinctions in their expression depending of the stage of tick feeding. Out of them, only Salp 10 and Salp 15 proteins may be regarded as candidates for protective antigens to develop anti-tick and anti-Borrelia vaccines. Firstly they play an important role in feeding a tick and modifying a host's immune response.

Molecular identification of Salp15, a key salivary gland protein in the transmission of lyme disease spirochetes, from Ixodes persulcatus and Ixodes pacificus (Acari: Ixodidae).

Salp15 is a multifunctional protein, vital to the tick in its need to obtain vertebrate host blood without stimulating a host inflammatory and immune response. The Salpl5 protein from both Ixodes scapularis Say and Ixodes ricinus (L.), the principal vectors of the Lyme disease spirochete in eastern North America and Europe, respectively, have been well characterized and found to bind the murine CD4 receptor, DC-SIGN, and the OspC protein of Borrelia burgdorferi.