Señales físico químicas involucradas en la búsqueda de hospederos y en la inducción de picadura por mosquitos

Abstract

Disease vector female mosquitoes respond to physic-chemical signals to localize vertebrate hosts for blood meals. Zoophylic mosquitoes preferentially respond to CO2 and octenol released in the breath and bodily fluids, while anthropophylic mosquitoes respond to lactic acid and a va- riety of sweat compounds. These compounds are modified by saprophytic microorganisms in the skin sebaceous glands. Other factors present in human dwellings contribute to the integration of microsystems with characteristic odors that have different attraction for mosquitoes, explaining the fo- calization of malaria transmission in few households in en- demic areas. The identification of the chemical attractants and their molecular receptors could be used to comple- ment new methods to attract mosquitoes to traps during epidemiological surveys, to increase their contact with in- secticides in control interventions, and for genetic manipu- lation to divert mosquito bites towards other animal populations. The English version of this paper is available at: http://www.insp.mx/salud/index.html