PARTIAL CHARACTERIZATION OF MOSQUITO LARVAE EXTRACT INDUCING DNA SYNTHESIS ALTERATIONS ON HUMAN MONONUCLEAR CELLS

A crude mosquito larvae and dialysed extract alters the mitotic rate of several epithelial cell populations in normal young and adult hepatectomized mice. A crude extract also showed a biphasic effect on the proliferation of human mononuclear cells (MNCs), either stimulating or inhibiting them depending on the dose applied. In the present paper, we assayed the effect of the dialysed mosquito larvae extract and two different protein fractions on human MNCs. Analysis of cell viability after culture indicated that the extract did not have toxic effects. Our results show a dual response of the MNCs to the dialysed, as well as to the protein fraction, with the highest molecular weight inhibiting or stimulating proliferation, depending on the dose applied. The protein fraction with the lowest molecular weight (range between 12–80kDa) showed only an inhibitory effect on cell proliferation.