Plasmodium vivax infection-driven modulation of sterol carrier protein reveals a metabolic link to reproductive physiology in Anopheles stephensi.

Mosquitoes rely exclusively on blood-derived sterols, transported by sterol carrier protein (SCP), for reproduction and metabolic regulation. SCP expression is strongly induced after blood feeding and dynamically modulated during Plasmodium vivax infection-upregulated in the midgut and salivary glands but suppressed in hemocytes-indicating that parasite infection modulates the host sterol transport and metabolism. RNAi-mediated knockdown of SCP significantly reduced mosquito fecundity, underscoring its vital role in reproductive physiology. These findings highlight SCP as a key metabolic regulator linking nutrient uptake to reproductive outcome, while its Plasmodium infection-driven modulation may facilitate the parasite growth. While reproduction remains the primary physiological outcome, the metabolic modulation of SCP during infection also points to it as a possible transmission-blocking target in integrated malaria control strategies.