Co-exposure to sand fly saliva and filarial parasites exhibit altered monocyte function

Threads Lab PhD Student Moussa Sangare's paper shows that monocytes of unexposed individuals selectively upregulated the production of IL-6 and CCL4 in response to salivary gland from Phlebotomus duboscqi or other vector species. While repeated exposure to Phlebotomus duboscqi saliva alters human monocyte function towards a tolerized phenotype, co-infection with filaria favours a Leishmania-promoting Th2/regulatory response.