Anopheles Gambiae，疟疾载体。资料来源：https：//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/file:zanzara_anopheles_gambiae.jpg

Plasmodium寄生虫，原因Malaria在人类和动物中，以操纵人类和蚊子的宿主而闻名，以最大程度地提高它们之间相互作用的可能性，从而增加了疟疾寄生虫从宿主传播到宿主的机会。这些弯曲的寄生虫被证明增加了宿主相互作用的可能性是在其可传播（配子细胞）阶段。

这是通过诱导宿主红细胞产生吸引疟疾载体物种的挥发性化合物来实现的，例如蚊子中的蚊子按蚊家庭。

The increase in production of volatile compounds, such as certain aldehydes and terpenes, by host red blood cells was shown back in 2017 to be specifically induced by a gametocyte-produced molecule called (E)-4-hydroxy-3-methyl-but-2-enyl pyrophosphate, also known asHMBPP。

2017年发表的研究，并由英格丽·费耶（Ingrid Faye）的小组进行，发现当未感染的血液和补充HMBPP的未感染血液之间选择时，将有95％的寻求血液的蚊子吸引到HMBPP补充的血液中。这一发现（除其他发现）展示了直接和间接操纵其宿主的气味概况的血液居住疟疾的方式，以增强其传播的机会。

You can read more about HMBPP and these research findings in aprevious article on BugBitten。

直到最近，尚未在该领域评估过疟疾寄生虫引起的挥发物的挥发物，影响人类对蚊子的吸引力，也没有在田间评估过HMBPP在没有人类气味的情况下吸引蚊子的能力。所以，a recent paperDebebe及其同事在BMC的疟疾期刊上着手测试HMBPP引起的气味混合物在吸引自然环境中吸引野生雌性蚊子的功效。

气味混合物由几种醛和萜烯的比率组成，旨在模仿HMBPP诱导的“天然”气味，并在受疟疾感染者中从配子细胞感染的红细胞中释放出来。

评估HMBPP诱导的气味混合物的吸引力

测试的混合物mosquito-attracting odours in the field, researchers chose Arba Minch Zuria, one of the most malaria-infected districts in southern Ethiopia.Anopheles ArabiensisandAn. pharoensisare the primary mosquito species responsible for malaria transmission in this area.

The experiments consisted of a two-choice behavioural assay, comprised of a tent with or without a human volunteer (as a source of human odour), and two pipes emanating from each tent (to carry the odour) that extended to two different Host Decoy Traps (HDT). These HDT (used to trap any attracted mosquitoes) either contained the HMBPP-induced odour blend or heptane (acting as a control).

HMBPP诱导的挥发物吸引了蚊子

在实验过程中，共同捕获了2114个蚊子蚊子，共同捕获了对照和Odour诱饵陷阱。其中，共有1931年（91.3％）被捕获的蚊子在形态上被鉴定为Anopheles Arabiensisand the other 8.7% (183 individuals) were identified asAn. pharoensis.

As well as catching significantly moreAn. arabiensis实验上的蚊子，数量An. arabiensiscaught significantly increased when the release rate of HMBP-induced volatiles increased, illustrating a dose-dependent relationship between HMBP-induced volatile release andAn. arabiensis在traction. However, this was not the case forAn. pharoensis。

In addition to these findings, the researchers showed that when the HMBPP-induced odour blend was combined with human odour, it attracted significantly moreAn. arabiensis与HDT对照（HMBPP诱导的气味混合物和七烷）相比，蚊子和几乎两倍。作者所指的正如作者所指的那样，这种“差异增强”也被视为感染两者的患者P. falciparumandP. vivax配子细胞阶段。

Implications and applications

基于这些结果，作者得出的结论是，HMBPP的产生极有可能支持这些观察到的疟疾载体吸引吸引对配子细胞阶段感染的个体的增加，并且在红细胞中，配子细胞寄生虫引起的气味极大地操纵了宿主 - 宿主 -寻求疟疾媒介蚊子的行为，因此大大提高了疟疾从宿主到宿主的传播效率（媒介能力）。

This study by Debebe and colleagues builds on previous laboratory-based research and is the first to demonstrate these outcomes under field conditions. These results are not only fascinating but also have implications for integrated vector management, and could provide novel methods to survey and control mosquitoes. One such application is to combine HMBPP with eave tube technology. The authors suggest directing human odour- laden air out of houses, through tubes embedded in the eaves, so that this air is guided to HDTs supplemented with the HMBPP-induced odour blend to effectively redirect blood-hungry malarial vectors to the traps.

尽管这将提供一种具有成本效益且易于重现的矢量控制措施，但作者指出，剩下的挑战是开发持久的HMBPP诱导的气味混合配方。有趣的是，尚未到来的研究是否可以实现这些未来的目标并成功地创建新颖的向量控制和管理工具。