Assessment of mosquito longevity, fecundity, and dengue virus titer following exposure to plasma from a host with Type 2 diabetes mellitus - a pilot study

The mosquito Aedes aegypti (Linnaeus) prefers feeding on humans and will encounter many blood components that might influence mosquito physiology and vectorial capacity. The effects of dengue virus infection in patients with type-2 diabetes mellitus revealed an influence on platelet numbers in blood and diabetic persons are more likely to develop severe dengue. Infection with dengue virus (DENV) is known to impact diabetic patients but the impact of diabetic blood on mosquito vectorial capacity is not known. This pilot study investigated the effects of ingesting blood plasma from a patient with diabetes on mosquito fecundity, longevity, and vector competence for DENV-2 in the mosquito, Ae. aegypti. Female mosquitoes fed on plasma from a diabetic individual laid significantly more eggs. Diabetic plasma shortened overall mosquito life span. Vector competence was significantly different between extrinsic incubation periods at 7 (3.44{+/-}2.5 log PFUe DENV) and 14 days post-infection (4.28{+/-}2.4 log PFUe DENV) in mosquitoes fed DENV-2 in plasma from a diabetic individual. As this study is an initial investigation into the influence of diabetes plasma on mosquito life history traits, a more comprehensive study with more samples of diabetes plasma is underway and should yield more details about the impact of diabetes on mosquito biology.