Anopheles salivary antigens as markers of human exposure to malaria vectors.

Saliva of blood-feeding arthropods induces in their hosts an antibody response which may be used as indicator of human exposure to disease vectors. We have recently shown that the Anopheles gambiae gSG6 (gambiae Salivary Gland protein 6) is a good candidate as marker of exposure to African malaria vectors, suggesting it may represent a useful epidemiological tool both for the evaluation of malaria transmission/risk and for monitoring vector control measures. We present here the identification of a novel, anopheline-specific, immunogenic salivary protein and provide evidence that distinct components of mosquito saliva may induce differential humoral response in individuals from malaria endemic areas. Implications for malaria control and epidemiology will be discussed