Trypanosoma cruzi: effects of infection on cathepsin D activity in the midgut of Rhodnius prolixus

Cathepsin D activity was estimated in midgut homogenates from Rhodnius prolixus, uninfected and experimentally infected with Trypanosoma cruzi, at different times after blood ingestion. No enzyme activity was found in the anterior midgut and rectum. In the posterior midgut, enzyme activity was found both in lumen and wall. In starved uninfected insects, in lumen and wall, cathepsin D activity was high, decreasing to a constant rate at 1-15 days after feeding. In insects infected with T. cruzi cathepsin D activity increased 1 and 3 days after blood meal. We suggest that these changes in cathepsin D activity in R. prolixus posterior midgut are due to the establishment of T. cruzi infection.