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Medical Entomology

Research Lines

Content with Investigacion Entomología Médica .

The Laboratory of Medical Entomology (LME) develops an intense reference and research activity, focused on the field of disease vectors of interest in Public Health. The LME has an insectary where biological cycles of insect vectors are currently maintained, allowing the performance, among others, of vector competence and xenodiagnostic studies. The LME supports the national health system by offering techniques available in the portfolio of services for the taxonomic identification of arthropods of health interest. In addition, it performs entomological surveillance of outbreaks, supporting Surveillance Plans. In particular, the LME plays a leading role in the Entomological Surveillance Plan for Leishmaniasis in the Community of Madrid. On the other hand, the LME offers scientific advice to the CCAES (Centro de Coordinación de Alertas y Emergencias Sanitarias, Ministerio de Sanidad, Consumo y Bienestar Social), and participates in the elaboration of reports and rapid risk assessments.


 

The main research lines of the Laboratory of Medical Entomology are:

1. Maintenance of insect vector colonies: phlebotomine sand flies (Phlebotomus perniciosus, Phlebotomus papatasi and Phlebotomus argentipes, vectors of Leishmania infantum, Leishmania major and Leishmania donovani, respectively), Culex and Aedes mosquitoes (vectors of various arboviruses) and Rhodnius prolixus (vector of Trypanosoma cruzi). 
2. Biology of disease vectors of public health interest: biology, vector competence, experimental infections. The CNM has a BSL3 safety laboratory to carry out vector competence studies with culicidae and phlebotomine sand flies.
3. Entomological sampling, infectivity of potential reservoirs of leishmaniasis.
4. Insecticides and repellents: evaluation of their efficacy. 
5. Characterization of saliva proteins of hematophagous Diptera: genomics, proteomics, biochemistry and gene editing. Study of salivary proteins as markers of bite exposure, virulence factors and/or vaccines.
6. Xenodiagnosis of leishmaniasis.
7. Molecular biology and taxonomy of phlebotomine sand flies. Molecular detection of Leishmania infantum in phlebotomine sand flies and characterization of Leishmania spp. Molecular identification of blood ingested by vectors.

Research projects

Content with Investigacion Entomología Médica .

CURRENT PROJECTS

Project title: "Biochemical and functional characterisation of salivary proteins of Phlebotomus perniciosus and their role in infection by Leishmania infantum (PERNIPROT)"
Reference: Project PID2023-147773NA-I00 funded by MICIU/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by FEDER, EU.
Start date: 01/09/2024
End date: 31/08/2028
Funding: €175,000
Principal investigator: Inés Elena Martín Martín. 
Funding agency: Agencia Estatal de Investigación (Proyecto de Generación del Conocimiento 2023).


 

Project title: "Surveillance of leishmaniasis in the Community of Madrid from a “One Health” perspective: study of the infectious capacity of patients with visceral leishmaniasis and their role as reservoirs"
Reference: PI24CIII/00026
Start date: 01/01/2025
End date: 31/12/2027
Funding: €60,000.00
Principal investigator: Inés Elena Martín Martín. 
Co-principal investigator: Maribel Jiménez Alonso
Funding agency: Instituto de Salud Carlos III (Strategic Action in Intramural Health, AESI). 

Service Contract: "Analysis for the surveillance of the vector and wild reservoirs that transmit leishmaniasis in the Community of Madrid"
Reference: file no. 17/2024 (A/SER-008455/2024).
Start date: 26/06/2024
End date: 10/12/25, extendable to 2026
Total funding: €171,084
Principal Investigator: Maribel Jiménez Alonso
Funding agency: Service Contract between the Instituto de Salud Carlos III and the Directorate-General for Public Health, Regional Ministry of Health of the Community of Madrid 

Project Title: CIBERINFEC Research Group (CB21/13/00110)
Start date: 2021
End date: currently active
Principal Investigator: Dr. Mª Paz Sánchez-Seco, Arbovirus and Imported Viral Diseases Unit. 
Researchers from the Medical Entomology Laboratory: Maribel Jiménez (member), Inés Martín Martín (collaborator).
Funding: €108,134. File number: CB21/13/00110.
Funding agency: Consortium Centre for Biomedical Research in NETWORK (CIBER)


 

PAST PROJECTS

Service Contract: "Evaluation of the anti-leishmania effect of the bacteria Tc1 and its derivatives in the intravectorial cycle"
Reference: ISCIII-06896
Start date: 15/12/2022
End date: 15/04/2025
Funding: €71,265.67
Principal Investigator: Inés Elena Martín Martín
Funding agency: Service Contract between the company GlaxoSmithKline R&D (GSK) and the Instituto de Salud Carlos III

Service Contract: "Analysis for the surveillance of the vector and wild reservoirs that transmit leishmaniasis in the Community of Madrid"
Reference: 59/2020 (A/SER-040739/2020)
Start date: 10/12/2021
End date: 10/12/2023.   
Funding: €42,612.17 per year   Total 2021-2023: €127,836.51
Principal Investigators: Ricardo Molina /Maribel Jiménez Alonso
Funding agency: Service contract between the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII) and the Directorate-General for Public Health, Regional Ministry of Health of the Community of Madrid

Project title: "Research and Integrated Surveillance of Emerging Arboviruses West Nile, Toscana and Dengue in some areas of Spain"
Reference: PI19CIII/00014
Start date: 2020
End date: 2022
Principal Investigator: Ana Vázquez González
Co-Principal Investigator: Ricardo Molina
Funding: €60,000.00
Funding agency: Instituto de Salud Carlos III (Strategic Action in Intramural Health, AESI).

Project title: "Characterisation of the concept of ‘asymptomatic carrier’ in leishmaniasis: implications for treatment".
Start date: 01/01/2015
End date: 31/12/2017
Principal investigators: Javier Moreno and Javier García
Funding: €159,940
Funding agency: Study Agreement between Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative (DNDi), the Spanish Foundation for International Cooperation, Health and Social Policy (FCSAI) and Fuenlabrada Hospital. Subcontractor: ISCIII Medical Entomology Unit (Maribel Jiménez and Ricardo Molina).

Project title: "Biology and control of vector-borne infections in Europe (EDENext Collaborative Project): Sandfly-borne diseases".  
Reference: Subproject (PBD) (EU, FP7-HEALTH-2010-single-stage, contract No. 261504).
Start date: 2011
End date: 2014
Principal investigator: Ricardo Molina     General coordinator: Petr Volf
Funding: €140,000
Funding agency: EU-FP7

Project Title: "Phlebotomus perniciosus saliva as a source in the search for potential targets for the development of vaccines against Leishmania infantum"
Reference: AGL2008-01592/GAN (MICINN)
Start date: 2009
End date: 2011
Principal investigator: Ricardo Molina
Funding: €70,180
Funding agency: Ministry of Science and Innovation

Publications

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Where are we with monoclonal antibodies for multidrug-resistant infections?

Where are we with monoclonal antibodies for multidrug-resistant infections? McConnell MJ. Drug Discov Today. 2019 May;24(5):1132-1138. doi: 10.1016/j.drudis.2019.03.002.

PUBMED

Peptidoglycan recycling contributes to intrinsic resistance to fosfomycin in Acinetobacter baumannii

Peptidoglycan recycling contributes to intrinsic resistance to fosfomycin in Acinetobacter baumannii. Gil-Marqués ML, Moreno-Martínez P, Costas C, Pachón J, Blázquez J, McConnell MJ. J Antimicrob Chemother. 2018 Nov 1;73(11):2960-2968. doi: 10.1093/jac/dky289.

PUBMED

Immunization with lipopolysaccharide-free outer membrane complexes protects against Acinetobacter baumannii infection

Immunization with lipopolysaccharide-free outer membrane complexes protects against Acinetobacter baumannii infection. Pulido MR, García-Quintanilla M, Pachón J, McConnell MJ. Vaccine. 2018 Jul 5;36(29):4153-4156. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2018.05.113.

PUBMED

Phenotypic changes associated with Colistin resistance due to Lipopolysaccharide loss in Acinetobacter baumannii

Phenotypic changes associated with Colistin resistance due to Lipopolysaccharide loss in Acinetobacter baumannii. Carretero-Ledesma M, García-Quintanilla M, Martín-Peña R, Pulido MR, Pachón J, McConnell MJ. Virulence. 2018 Dec 31;9(1):930-942. doi: 10.1080/21505594.2018.1460187.

PUBMED

Curso de Gestión de Calidad y Buenas Prácticas de Laboratorio. Ed. 3

Grammatico JP, Cuevas L (Edits.) y Grupo de expertos de la Organización Panamericana de la Salud OPS/OMS. Curso de Gestión de Calidad y Buenas Prácticas de Laboratorio. Ed. 3. OPS/OMS;. Washington, D.C., 2016. Disponible en: “http://iris.paho.org/xmlui/handle/123456789/31168”. ISBN: 978-92-75-11906-8

Gestión de la Calidad para laboratorios de ensayo. 1ª ed.

Grammatico JP, Cuevas L (Edits.). Gestión de la Calidad para laboratorios de ensayo. 1ª ed. Conicet-Madri+d; Buenos Aires, 2011. Disponible en: “http://www.madrimasd.org/Laboratorios/Documentos/Red-Laboratorios/documentos/Gest_Calidad_Ensayo.pdf”. ISBN: 978-950-692-095-1

Curso de Gestión de Calidad y Buenas Prácticas de Laboratorio.

Grupo de expertos de la Organización Panamericana de la Salud OPS/OMS. Curso de Gestión de Calidad y Buenas Prácticas de Laboratorio. OPS; Documentos Técnicos THR/HT 2009/001. Washington, D.C., 2009. ISBN: 978-92-75-32977-1

Guía Latinoamericana para la implementación de Código de Ética en los laboratorios de salud.

Grupo de expertos de la Organización Panamericana de la Salud (OPS/OMS). Guía Latinoamericana para la implementación de Código de Ética en los laboratorios de salud. Organización Panamericana de la Salud. Documentos Técnicos. Políticas y Regulación. THS/EV-2007/001; 2007. ISBN: 92-7-532702-5

Antiretroviral Therapy with Ritonavir-Boosted Atazanavir- and Lopinavir-Containing Regimens Correlates with Diminished HIV-1 Neutralization.

Yuste E, Gil H, García F and Sánchez-Merino V. Vaccines. 2024. 12:1176

PUBMED DOI

Identification of HIV-1 circulating BF1 recombinant form (CRF75_BF1) of Brazilian origin that also circulates in Southwestern Europe

Bacqué J, Delgado E, Gil H, Ibarra S, Benito S, García-Arata I, Moreno-Lorenzo M, Sáez de Arana E, Gómez-González C, Sánchez M, Montero V and Thomson MM. Front Microbiol. 2023. 14: 1301374

PUBMED DOI

Factors associated with HIV-1 resistance to integrase strand transfer inhibitors in Spain: Implications for dolutegravir-containing regimens.

Gil H, Delgado E, Benito S, Moreno-Lorenzo M, Thomson MM and Spanish Group for the study of antirretroviral drug Resistance. Front Microbiol. 2022. 13:1051096

PUBMED DOI

Transmission clusters, predominantly associated with men who have sex with men, play a main role in the propagation of HIV-1 in Northern Spain (2013-2018).

Gil H, Delgado E, Benito S, Georgalis L, Montero V, Sánchez M, Cañada-García JE, García-Bodas E, Diaz A, Thomson MM and Spanish group of the study of new HIV diagnoses. Front Microbiol. 2022. 13:782609

PUBMED DOI

Accuracy of molecular drug susceptibility testing amongst tuberculosis patients in Karakalpakstan, Uzbekistan.

Gil H, Margaryan H, Azamat I, Ziba B, Bayram H, Nazirov P, Gomez D, Singh J, Zayniddin S, Parpieva N and Achar J. Trop. Med. Int. Health. 2021. 26:421-427.

PUBMED DOI

High-Resolution Melting Assay to Detect the Mutations That Cause the Y132F and G458S Substitutions at the ERG11 Gene Involved in Azole Resistance in Candida parapsilosis

Nuria Trevijano-Contador, Elena López-Peralta, Jorge López-López, Alejandra Roldán, Cristina de Armentia, Óscar Zaragoza. Mycoses 2024 Nov;67(11):e13811

PUBMED DOI

Broad Protection against Invasive Fungal Disease from a Nanobody Targeting the Active Site of Fungal β-1,3-Glucanosyltransferases

Redrado-Hernández S, Macías-León J, Castro-López J, Belén Sanz A, Dolader E, Arias M, González-Ramírez AM, Sánchez-Navarro D, Petryk Y, Farkaš V, Vincke C, Muyldermans S, García-Barbazán I, Del Agua C, Zaragoza O, Arroyo J, Pardo J, Gálvez EM, Hurtado-Guerrero R. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2024 Aug 19;63(34):e202405823.

PUBMED DOI

Diagnósitico microbiológico y control de la legionelosis

Pelaz Antolín, C., et al., En Procedimientos en Microbiología Clínica, E.C.y.R. Cantón, Editor. 2005, SEIMC. p. 1-72.

PUBMED

Persistence of chlorine‐sensitive Legionella pneumophila in hyperchlorinated installations

García MT, Baladrón B, Gil V, Tarancon ML, Vilasau A, Ibañez A, Elola C, Pelaz C. J Appl Microbiol. 2008;105(3):837-47.

PUBMED DOI

Legionella-Biofilms-Amebas, un problema industrial, de sanidad ambiental y de salud pública

Juana María González-Rubio, Celia Játiva, Almudena Cascajero, Fernando González-Camacho. Infoplagas, nº 112, agosto 2023 pags: 20-24. (Artículo de divulgación).

DOI

Programa de Legionelosis. En Echevarría Mayo JE y Oteo Iglesias J (Editores). Programas de Vigilancia Microbiológica pags: 74-80. Centro Nacional de Microbiología, Madrid: Instituto de Salud Carlos III, 2021.

Bellido B y Pelaez C: Programa de Legionelosis. En Echevarría Mayo JE y Oteo Iglesias J (Editores). Programas de Vigilancia Microbiológica pags: 74-80. Centro Nacional de Microbiología, Madrid: Instituto de Salud Carlos III, 2021.

Fulminant septic shock due to community-acquired pneumonia caused by Legionella pneumophila SG1 Olda OLDA ST1. Case report

de Miguel-Balsa E, Jaimez Navarro E, Cascajero A, González-Camacho F, González-Rubio JM. J Infect Public Health 2024; 17:1047-9.

PUBMED DOI

Content with Investigacion Entomología Médica .

List of staff

Additional Information

The Medical Entomology Laboratory has accumulated extensive experience in this field, especially in entomological field studies, biology of arthropods of medical interest, vector competence and vector control. Also, in the molecular detection of Leishmania infantum promastigotes in naturally parasitized phlebotomine sand flies, in the molecular identification of blood ingested by hematophagous arthropods and in the study of the immunomodulatory properties of proteins present in the saliva of phlebotomine sand flies and mosquitoes. Our laboratory is currently co-leading the studies of vectors and wild reservoirs of leishmaniasis in the leishmaniasis focus of Fuenlabrada, Madrid. In this sense, we have studied the role of asymptomatic individuals as reservoirs in the outbreak by xenodiagnosis. On the other hand, we have participated since 2007 in the Entomological Surveillance Program in Airports and Ports against Potential Vectors of Exotic Infectious Diseases, a program that is allowing to develop the expansion map in Spain of Aedes albopictus. In 2016-2017, we carried out surveillance of Ae. albopictus in the Community of Castilla-La Mancha. On the other hand, we conducted studies on the role of patients with post-kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis (PKDL) in the transmission of the parasite in Bangladesh and Sudan. In addition, we participate in research studying ticks transmitting Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever in Spain.

Currently, it maintains confidentiality agreements with several companies participating in the evaluation of molecules with activity against pathogens in vectors (GSK), in the development of vector traps using artificial intelligence algorithms (Irideon, Spain), and in the evaluation of repellents against phlebotomine sand flies (IRSEA, France).

The laboratory actively participates in outreach activities such as the Science Week or the European Researchers' Night, among others, making medical entomology science available to the general population.

The Medical Entomology Laboratory has accumulated extensive experience in this field, especially in entomological field studies, biology of arthropods of medical interest, vector competence and vector control. Also, in the molecular detection of Leishmania infantum promastigotes in naturally parasitized phlebotomine sand flies, in the molecular identification of blood ingested by hematophagous arthropods and in the study of the immunomodulatory properties of proteins present in the saliva of phlebotomine sand flies and mosquitoes. Our laboratory is currently co-leading the studies of vectors and wild reservoirs of leishmaniasis in the leishmaniasis focus of Fuenlabrada, Madrid. In this sense, we have studied the role of asymptomatic individuals as reservoirs in the outbreak by xenodiagnosis. On the other hand, we have participated since 2007 in the Entomological Surveillance Program in Airports and Ports against Potential Vectors of Exotic Infectious Diseases, a program that is allowing to develop the expansion map in Spain of Aedes albopictus. In 2016-2017, we carried out surveillance of Ae. albopictus in the Community of Castilla-La Mancha. On the other hand, we conducted studies on the role of patients with post-kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis (PKDL) in the transmission of the parasite in Bangladesh and Sudan. In addition, we participate in research studying ticks transmitting Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever in Spain.

Currently, it maintains confidentiality agreements with several companies participating in the evaluation of molecules with activity against pathogens in vectors (GSK), in the development of vector traps using artificial intelligence algorithms (Irideon, Spain), and in the evaluation of repellents against phlebotomine sand flies (IRSEA, France).

The laboratory actively participates in outreach activities such as the Science Week or the European Researchers' Night, among others, making medical entomology science available to the general population.

Content with Investigacion Entomología Médica .