Why studying mosquito is critical in understanding some of the pathogens are transmitted?

The Importance ofthe Topic 

Studying mosquito, mostly their lifespan, how they eat, and how they mate is critical in understanding some of the pathogens such as malaria that they transmit from one host to next. The most vital point in studying mosquito is to understand the best way to eradicate them to minimize the spread of the pathogens, such as malaria ( Papadopoulos et al., 2016). Malaria is an important topic because, despite the known strategies of its prevention, malaria still kills approximately 1-3 million people per year. Understanding mosquitos and the best strategies to control them can be a huge step towards eradicating malaria and reducing such colossal mortality rates worldwide ( Papadopoulos et al., 2016). Malaria, as a pathogen, is carried by female anopheles mosquito and transferred from one point or host to another. With a better understanding of the habits of the anopheles mosquito, people can use the right strategies to reduce their multiplication, which can reduce the rate of malaria. 

Reference 

Papadopoulos, N. T., Carey, J. R., Ioannou, C. S., Ji, H., Müller, H. G., Wang, J. L., ... & Lewis, E. E. (2016). Seasonality of post-capture longevity in a medically-important mosquito (Culexpipiens).  Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution ,  4 , 63. 

Retrieved from: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2016.00063/full 

The Pathogen Structural Characteristics 

A single-celled protist of the genus  Plasmodium causes malaria. The Plasmodium Has a complex life cycle involving two separate asexual reproductive stages in the vertebrate host (including humans) and sexual reproduction as well as multiplication in the insect vector (Wong et al., 2018). The female anopheles mosquito is the vehicle through which the plasmodium transfer from one host to another (Wong et al., 2018). Regarding its structure, Plasmodium  consists of a nucleus and a mitochondrion. The nuclear carries DNA, which is the cell’s genetic material. 

On the other hand, the mitochondrion is the energy source that the cell uses for respiration. The cells also have microtubules whose function is to move proteins and other molecules across the cell wall or the cell membrane (Wong et al., 2018).  Part of its structure is also an apicoplast, “which is an organ unique to this group of single-celled parasites which implicate in the invasion of host cells” (Wong et al., 2018). There are a lot of proteins that cover the surface of the plasmodium. The cell uses some of this protein as a bindingstructurefor the host cell. 

Reference 

Wong, W., Huang, R., Menant, S., Hong, C., Sandow, J. J., Birkinshaw, R. W., … Cowman, A. F. (2018).  Structure of Plasmodium falciparum Rh5–CyRPA–Ripr invasion complex. Nature.  doi:10.1038/s41586-018-0779-6 

Retrieved from: https://sci-hub.tw/https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-018-0779-6 

The Organ and Tissue 

The malaria parasite attack the liver.The  Plasmodium -infected mosquito injects sporozoite forms into the human  host . The sporozoite then moves to the liver through the Kupfer cells (Dundas, 2018). At this point, they invade the hepatocytes within which they develop into liver merozoites. The liver act as the point of the blood filtration before the blood travels to other body parts. A specific cell that the plasmodium target in the liver is the hepatocyte. The Hepatocyte cells are critical to the human body as they have direct access to the liver's blood supply sinusoids (Dundas, 2018).  Therefore, they are responsible for many metabolic functions, including bile. The cells act as the harbors for the plasmodium as they multiple asexually inside the cells. The effect of the parasite at this point is that it can kill the liver cells or the hepatocyte cells and reduce their ability to detect the neighbor cells (Dundas, 2018).  Therefore, it reduces the functionality of the cells and the reduction in the process of blood filtration. 

Reference 

Dundas, K., Shears, M. J., Sinnis, P., & Wright, G. J. (2018).  Important Extracellular Interactions between Plasmodium Sporozoites and Host Cells Required for Infection. Trends in Parasitology.  doi:10.1016/j.pt.2018.11.008 

Retrieved from: https://sci-hub.tw/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pt.2018.11.008 

The Treatment ofthe Disease 

Different drugs can treat malaria. The pills that work against disease kill the parasite when they attack the liver cells, after which they move to the bloodstream ( Milligan, Daher& Graves, 2017). An excellent example of such drugs is mefloquine and Quinine. The drug works by killing the parasite at the bloodstream. The parasite goes to the bloodstream, where they infect the red blood cells after dividing it into the liver cells. They make the blood cells rupture and cause fever and chills ( Milligan, Daher& Graves, 2017). They also die in the bloodstream and cause a lot of toxic. The antimalarial drugs such as the Quinine and mefloquine attack the paradise at the blood before they get into the liver cells. The drugs kill the malaria parasite at the bloodstream before they multiply in large numbers ( Milligan, Daher& Graves, 2017).It due to such interaction that makes it critical for the patient to take the pills before the disease gets into the sever stages. 

Reference 

Milligan, R., Daher, A., & Graves, P. M. (2017). Primaquine at alternative dosing schedules for preventing relapse in people with Plasmodium vivax malaria.  The Cochrane database of systematic reviews ,  2017 (5). 

Retrieved from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6481760/ 

Mutation 

The mutation is the process that takes place when DNA is damaged, and therefore the message it carries changes. Plasmodium mutation is associated with its resistance to numerous antimalarial drugs such as chloroquine(Haldar, Bhattacharjee&Safeukui, 2018). The m utations  in the Plasmodium  falciparum chloroquine resistance transporter is one of the challenges that make the parasite challenging to fight. It is also evidence from different research studies that gene mutation can increase the resistance to the malaria parasite. The mutation changes the protein hemoglobin that carries oxygen in red blood cells (Haldar, Bhattacharjee&Safeukui, 2018). The altered protein is especially protective against severe malaria.A more frequent mutation in the hemoglobin molecule, called HbS, offers protection against malaria, but it can cause sickle-cell anemia. The plasmodium mutation makes it a challenge to treat the disease because it makes it resistant to some of the antimalarial drugs. 

Reference 

Haldar, K., Bhattacharjee, S., &Safeukui, I. (2018). Drug resistance in Plasmodium.  Nature Reviews Microbiology ,  16 (3), 156. Retrieved from: https://www.nature.com/articles/nrmicro.2017.161 

The Aspect of the Malaria Not Discussed 

Emerging scientific research on the mosquito is the ability to sterilize them to reduce the mosquito population. The Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) processes of reducing the mosquito population by targeting the male mosquito (Bouyer et al., 2020). After sterilizing them, they get allowed to mate the mosquito in the wild, which reduces the population. The sterilized mosquito cannot give offspring. SIT is an impressive preventive measure that needs more exploration to reduce the rate of malaria infection in the world. 

Reference 

Bouyer, J., Yamada, H., Pereira, R., Bourtzis, K., &Vreysen, M. J. (2020). Phased conditional approach for mosquito management using the sterile insect technique.  Trends in Parasitology . Retrieved from: https://sci-hub.tw/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pt.2020.01.004