New Insights on the Inflammatory Role of Lutzomyia longipalpis Saliva in Leishmaniasis

When an haematophagous sand fly vector insect bites a vertebrate host, it introduces its mouthparts into the skin and lacerates blood vessels, forming a hemorrhagic pool which constitutes an intricate environment of cell interactions. In this scenario, the initial performance of host, parasite, and vector “authors” will heavily influence the course of Leishmania infection. Recent advances in vector-parasite-host interaction have elucidated “co-authors” and “new roles” not yet described. We review here the stimulatory role of Lutzomyia longipalpis saliva leading to inflammation and try to connect them in an early context of Leishmania infection.