{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,26]],"date-time":"2026-09-26T14:04:03Z","timestamp":1790431443138,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":31,"publisher":"EDP Sciences","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2020,2,10]],"date-time":"2020-02-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1581292800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":40,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Parasite"],"accepted":{"date-parts":[[2020,1,31]]},"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2020]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>Human body lice (<jats:italic>Pediculus humanus<\/jats:italic>) are neglected ectoparasites and pathogen vectors. Difficulties in raising and maintaining colonies of body lice in a laboratory setting remain a barrier to fundamental studies of physiology and vector-pathogen interactions in these insects. Several <jats:italic>in vivo<\/jats:italic> and <jats:italic>in vitro<\/jats:italic> rearing systems have been previously described and used by multiple research groups. However, these methods suffer from drawbacks that still complicate the rearing of body lice relative to many other commonly studied hematophagous insects. Here, a simplified protocol for raising and maintaining body lice <jats:italic>in vitro<\/jats:italic> using the commercially available Hemotek apparatus is described. This protocol draws from published methods for rearing body lice as well as other hematophagous insect species to further reduce labor, time, costs, and regulatory requirements typically associated with keeping human body lice in the laboratory. Using this protocol, the insects consistently fed on commercially available rabbit blood with little mortality, reached adulthood at a high rate, and produced a significant number of viable eggs, resulting in a 4.8-fold increase in population over a period of 40 days. The data suggest that the process described here can propagate modest populations for ongoing laboratory experiments and is a useful alternative to existing methods. The use and further optimization of <jats:italic>in vitro<\/jats:italic> rearing systems may facilitate dynamic studies of body lice by a wider range of investigators, enabling new progress in combating lice infestations, and louse-borne infections.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1051\/parasite\/2020007","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2020,2,10]],"date-time":"2020-02-10T08:57:32Z","timestamp":1581325052000},"page":"8","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":8,"title":["A simplified protocol for <i>in vitro<\/i> rearing of human body lice"],"prefix":"10.1051","volume":"27","author":[{"given":"Jose E.","family":"Pietri","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ritesh","family":"Ray","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"250","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,2,10]]},"reference":[{"key":"R1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"50","DOI":"10.1111\/mve.12015","volume":"20","author":"Aak","year":"2014","journal-title":"Medical and Veterinary Entomology"},{"key":"R2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"114","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1365-2915.1994.tb00149.x","volume":"8","author":"Ben-Yakir","year":"1994","journal-title":"Medical and Veterinary Entomology"},{"key":"R3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e0004413","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pntd.0004413","volume":"10","author":"Bland","year":"2016","journal-title":"PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases"},{"key":"R4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e1003724","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.ppat.1003724","volume":"9","author":"Bonilla","year":"2013","journal-title":"PLoS Pathogens"},{"key":"R5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"209","DOI":"10.1016\/j.meegid.2014.01.017","volume":"23","author":"Boutellis","year":"2014","journal-title":"Infection Genetics and Evolution"},{"key":"R6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"918","DOI":"10.1093\/jme\/tjv089","volume":"52","author":"Bressa","year":"2015","journal-title":"Journal of Medical Entomology"},{"key":"R7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"21","DOI":"10.1051\/parasite\/2015021","volume":"22","author":"Cannet","year":"2015","journal-title":"Parasite"},{"key":"R8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"327","DOI":"10.4269\/ajtmh.1944.s1-24.327","volume":"24","author":"Culpepper","year":"1944","journal-title":"American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene"},{"key":"R9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"660","DOI":"10.1093\/jee\/39.5.660a","volume":"39","author":"Culpepper","year":"1946","journal-title":"Journal of Economic Entomology"},{"key":"R10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"499","DOI":"10.4269\/ajtmh.1948.s1-28.499","volume":"28","author":"Culpepper","year":"1948","journal-title":"American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene"},{"key":"R11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1876","DOI":"10.1128\/IAI.69.3.1876-1879.2001","volume":"69","author":"Fournier","year":"2001","journal-title":"Infection and Immunity"},{"key":"R12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1515","DOI":"10.3201\/eid0812.020111","volume":"8","author":"Fournier","year":"2002","journal-title":"Emerging Infectious Diseases"},{"key":"R13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"163","DOI":"10.1007\/s00436-009-1378-0","volume":"105","author":"Gallardo","year":"2009","journal-title":"Parasitology Research"},{"issue":"5","key":"R14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"315","DOI":"10.4269\/ajtmh.1956.5.315","volume":"1956","author":"Haddon","year":"1956","journal-title":"American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene"},{"key":"R15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"326","DOI":"10.4269\/ajtmh.1956.5.326","volume":"5","author":"Haddon","year":"1956","journal-title":"American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene"},{"key":"R16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1639","DOI":"10.1086\/345373","volume":"186","author":"Houhamdi","year":"2002","journal-title":"Journal of Infectious Diseases"},{"key":"R17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1589","DOI":"10.1086\/508995","volume":"194","author":"Houhamdi","year":"2006","journal-title":"Journal of Infectious Diseases"},{"key":"R18","first-page":"344","volume":"54","author":"Kasai","year":"2003","journal-title":"Medical Entomology and Zoology"},{"key":"R19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"72","DOI":"10.1093\/jmedent\/27.1.72","volume":"27","author":"Mumcuoglu","year":"1990","journal-title":"Journal of Medical Entomology"},{"key":"R20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"12","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1365-2915.2010.00897.x","volume":"25","author":"Mumcuoglu","year":"2011","journal-title":"Medical and Veterinary Entomology"},{"key":"R21","unstructured":"Nijhof AM, Tyson KR. 2018. In vitro feeding methods for hematophagous arthropods and their application in drug discovery, in Ectoparasites: Drug Discovery Against Moving Targets. Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA: Weinheim, Germany. p. 187\u2013204."},{"key":"R22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"43","DOI":"10.1016\/j.actatropica.2018.04.009","volume":"183","author":"Romano","year":"2018","journal-title":"Acta Tropica"},{"key":"R23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"675","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ijantimicag.2015.02.008","volume":"45","author":"Sangar\u00e9","year":"2015","journal-title":"International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents"},{"key":"R24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"217","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ijantimicag.2016.01.001","volume":"7","author":"Sangar\u00e9","year":"2016","journal-title":"International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents"},{"key":"R25","unstructured":"Schrader G, Schmolz E, Koenning M, Dahl R, Robinson WH, Bajomi D. 2008. 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