Comparison of exflagellation inducing substance in head and salivary gland of Anopheles stephensi

  Objective   To compare the relative content of the malaria exflagellation-inducing substance in the heads and the salivary glands of Anopheles stephensi.

  Methods   Under the unit organ concentration and the unit protein concentration, the exflagellation-inducing activity in the head supernatant and the salivary gland supernatant was examined by using in vitro exflagellation assay of plasmodium berghei.

  Results   Both the head and the salivary gland of Anopheles stephensi contained malaria exflagellation-inducing substance.The exflagellation-inducing activity in the head was higher than that in the salivary gland under the same unit organ concentration.The activity in the salivary glands was higher than that in the heads under the same unitprotein concentration.

  Conclusion   The salivary gland of female Anopheles stephensi mosquito contained malaria exflagellation-inducing substance in a high concentration, which may play an important physiological role in malaria exflagellation in the midgut lumen of Anopheles mosquitoes.