Fig. 6: L-DOPA exhibits antiparasitic and antifungal activity.

a P. falciparum infection intensity and prevalence in adult female mosquitoes fed on a sugar meal supplemented with a L-DOPA or dopamine concentrations. Each circle indicates the number of oocysts per midgut; Data are presented as scatter dot plot, line at median value of oocysts. Each experiment consisted of three biological replicates, and data were pooled to generate the graph. Statistical analysis of infection intensity was performed using the Kruskal-Wallis test with Dunn’s post-test; ns not significant, *p = 0.0177. Statistical significance for prevalence of infection was assessed with Fisher’s exact test; ns not significant. b In vitro assessment of L-DOPA toxicity to sexual and asexual stages of P. falciparum parasite using L-DOPA concentrations ranging from 0.25 mM to 2 mM. Data from three biological replicates were pooled to generate the graph. Data was analyzed with Two-way ANOVA with Dunnett’s post test; ns not significant; ****p < 0.0001. c Fungal load in L-DOPA-fed female mosquitoes shows a reduction compared to control. Each circle corresponds to a whole mosquito homogenate; Data from three biological replicates were pooled to generate the scatter dot plot, bars represent mean value of fungal CFUs with s.d. Two-tailed Mann Whitney test; ns not significant. d Cryptococcal yeasts are successfully melanized in the abdomens of A. gambiae female mosquitoes 24 h post-injection of C. neoformans H99-GFP strain (1 ×10⁸ yeasts/ml). Live yeast cells (green arrows), Dead yeast cells (white arrows). Representative images from abdomen sections of 10 female mosquitoes at two independent experiments. e qRT-PCR analysis of mRNA abundance in whole mosquitoes from key genes [dopa decarboxylase (DDC), gambicin (GAM), phenoloxidase 1 (PPO1), and leucine-rich immunomodulator 15 (LRIM15)] involved in the mosquito melanization pathway and Plasmodium parasite development. Data represent the mean ± s.e.m. of three or more independent replicates, analyzed using unpaired one-way ANOVA with Holm-Šídák’s post-test to determine gene expression relative to housekeeping S7 gene; df = 4, F = 15.18, p = 0.0001, R² = 0.835, ns not significant, **p = 0.0041,DDC, *p = 0.0235, LRIM15, *p = 0.0269, GAM. Source data are provided as a Source Data file. Created in BioRender. Camacho, E. (2025) https://BioRender.com/3pj2xzp.