Canine leishmaniasis transmission: higher infectivity amongst naturally infected dogs to sand flies is associated with lower proportions of T helper cells

The dog is the main reservoir of Leishmania infantum, which is a parasite spread among canine hosts by the bite of sand flies. Phlebotomus perniciosus is the sand fly acting as a major vector in the Mediterranean basin. As a consequence, the dog will suffer from leishmaniasis. In this work the infective capacity of infected dogs, established by direct xenodiagnosis, has been investigated in relation to their immunological status by determining the lymphocyte percentages present in peripheral blood mononuclear cells. We found a significant association between the percentages of T helper cells (CD4/TcRαβ⁺and CD4/CD45RA⁺) and the infection rates detected in the vector, while significant association was not detected in the case of the T cytotoxic cells (CD8/TcRαβ⁺and CD8/CD45RA⁺). The relationship discovered was that the lower the CD4⁺T cell count, the higher the rate of the infection in the vector.