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Midsouth Entomologist

Abstract

An animal model to study cutaneous reactions to bed bug biting is currently not available. This study was initiated to evaluate Swiss-Webster (outbred) mice as a model organism for research on reactivity to bed bug bites and bed bug salivary gland extract (SGE). In this study, 1-2 bed bugs were fed on each of eight mice in a location on their backs which had been shaved; eight mice were injected intra-dermally (ID) with SGE in a similar location, and four control mice had phosphate buffered saline (PBS) injected also in a similar location. This procedure was repeated 3 times using the same mice over a 48-day period, after which all mice were humanely euthanized, bled, and punch biopsies taken from the locations on their backs. During the study, none of the mice developed any outward signs of illness or distress. Further, none showed cutaneous reactions attributable to bed bug bites or SGE injection. After the mice were euthanized, pathology of the skin punch biopsies revealed no specific allergy or inflammatory reactions in any of the sections. Also, there were no specific differences reported by the pathologist in skin samples among mice. All mice skin biopsies had sentinel (resident) numbers of mast cells, lymphocytes, and macrophages. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) testing for presence of antibodies was negative as well, with no reactivity by sera of any mice to SGE used in the ELISA; all results were no different from that of the negative controls used in the test. Results of this study indicate that either: 1) thresholds of bed bug biting and/or exposure to SGE proteins to elicit an immune response in mice are much higher than that in humans, or 2) Swiss-Webster mice are not very reactive to bed bug bites or SGE proteins. If the latter is true, then Swiss-Webster mice are not a good model to pursue for studies of cutaneous reactions to bed bugs.

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