Original Article Pattern of Mosquito Borne Parasitic Infection in the Night Blood Samples of Patients with Elevated TNF- α of> 5.0 pg/ml Mathew Folaranmi Olaniyan 1 *, Tolulope Busayo Ojediran 1 , Donatus Fn Ozuruoke 2 1 Department of Medical Laboratory Science, Edo University Iyamho – Nigeria 2 Education Department, Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria, Abuja Corresponding Author: Mathew Folaranmi Olaniyan, E-mail: olaniyanmat@yahoo.com ABSTRACT Study Background: Plasmodium spp., (Protozoan) and Wuchereria bancrofti (Nematode) are transmitted by mosquitos to cause insect borne diseases known as malaria and Lymphatic flariasis/Elephantiasis. Apart from the social implication of these parasitic infections the infections can also elicit immune responses. Aim and Objective: This work was therefore designed to determine the pattern of mosquito borne parasitic infection in the night blood samples of patients with elevated TNF-α of > 5.0 pg/ml. Materials and Methods: Seventy (70; aged 31 – 76 years; Male- 35; Female-35) volunteers with plasma TNFα of 5.8 ±0.7 pg/ including age-matched control participants ( n= 50 ; TNFα of 2.2 ± 0.3 pg/ml). All participants were negative to Acid Fast Bacilli, ant-HCV, HBsAg and HIV tests were recruited for the study. Night blood samples and sputum samples were obtained from the participants. Blood sample was used for determination of TNFα, HIVp24ag-Ab, anti-HCV, HBsAg by ELISA and identifcation of Plasmodium and Wuchereria by Geimsha thick blood flm staining while sputum samples were used for the demonstration of Acid Fast Bacilli by Ziehl Neelsen staining. Results: The results showed a frequency of Plasmodium spp., in individuals with plasma TNF-α of 5.8 ±0.7 pg/ml as 31.4%(22) as against a frequency of 18%(9) in subjects with plasma TNF-α of 2.2 ± 0.3 pg/ml.. The results also showed a frequency of 5.71%(4) and2%(1) Wuchereria bancrofti in subjects with plasma TNF-α of 5.8 ±0.7 pg/ml and TNF-α of 2.2 ± 0.3 pg/ml. respectively. The overall frequency of parasitic infection obtained in both test and control subjects include: 33.3% (40)Plasmodium spp., and 4.2%(5) Wuchereria bancrofti.The overall results from both test and control subjects also showed a gender distribution of 20%(24) and 13.3%(16) Plasmodium spp.,in female and males respectively while a distribution of 1.7%(2) and 2.5%(3) Wuchereria bancrofti in females and males respectively. Conclusion: This work revealed increase in the frequency of Plasmodium spp. and Wuchereria bancrofti infections with increase in plasma TNF-α while the overall frequency of parasitic infection obtained in both test and control subjects was found to be 33.3% (40)Plasmodium spp., and 4.2%(5) Wuchereria bancrofti with possible variations in regional and gender distributions. Mosquito borne parasitic infection of Plasmodium spp., was found to be more prevalent in patients with elevated TNF-α of> 5.0 pg/ml. INTRODUCTION Mosquito while taking a blood meal can transmit unicellular and multicellular parasites that causes malaria fever, dengue fever, West Nile virus, chikungunya, yellow fever, flaria- sis(W. bancrofti,), tularemia, diroflariasis, Japanese enceph- alitis, Saint Louis encephalitis, Western equine encephalitis, Eastern equine encephalitis, Venezuelan equine encephali- tis, Ross River fever, Barmah Forest fever, La Crosse en- cephalitis, and Zika fever, Keystone virus and Rift Valley fever [1][2][3][4] . Malaria and flariasis are common diseases transmitted by mosquito in rural communities. Giemsa stained thick blood flm smears is the “gold standard” ( fnger prick Published by Australian International Academic Centre PTY.LTD. Copyright (c) the author(s). This is an open access article under CC BY license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.abcmed.v.9n.2p.16 test) for the identifcation of Plasmodium and Microflaria (W. bancrofti). Night blood sample is preferred for the iden- tifcation of W. bancrofti [5][6][7] . Immune system of the mosquito has not been proven to destroy W. bancrofti or Plasmodium falciparum though the parasites especially Plasmodium falciparum alters the mosquito vector’s feeding habit by increasing frequency of biting in infected mosquitoes, thus increasing the chance of transmitting the parasite [8] .The life cycle of Plasmodium spp., that causes malaria and Wuchereria bancrofti the ma- jor cause of lymphatic flariasis takes place in human and mosquito. Humans is the defnitive host and mosquitos as the intermediate host for W. bancrofti while human is the Advances in Bioscience and Clinical Medicine ISSN: 2203-1413 www.abcmed.aiac.org.au ARTICLE INFO Article history Received: December 15, 2020 Accepted: March 26, 2021 Published: April 30, 2021 Volume: 9 Issue: 2 Conficts of interest: None Funding: None. Key words: Mosquito Borne Parasitic Infection, Night Blood Samples, TNF-α > 5.0 pg/ml