title: Efficacy of gamma interferon and specific antibody for treatment of microsporidiosis caused by Encephalitozoon cuniculi in SCID mice.
abstract: Microsporidia are eukaryotic, obligate, intracellular protists that are emerging pathogens in immunocompromised hosts, including AIDS patients and organ transplant recipients. The efficacy of gamma interferon (IFN-gamma) for the treatment of microsporidiosis caused by Encephalitozoon cuniculi was studied by means of adoptive transfer and IFN-gamma administration in SCID mice. While the adoptive transfer of CD4(+) T cells from immunocompetent mice prolonged survival of SCID mice infected perorally with E. cuniculi, survival was not improved by adoptive transfer of CD4(+) T lymphocytes from IFN-gamma-deficient mice. The protective effect of IFN-gamma was confirmed in cytokine therapy experiments in which SCID mice receiving IFN-gamma survived significantly longer than mice receiving mock injections. The administration of serum containing specific antibodies against E. cuniculi was found to prolong the survival of concurrently IFN-gamma-treated SCID mice. The data presented in this study suggest that IFN-gamma is potentially useful as a cytokine therapy for microsporidiosis, especially in CD4(+) T-cell-deficient patients.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Parasitology and Faculty of Biological Sciences, Biology Centre Academy of Sciences of Czech Republic, Branisovská 31, 370 05 Ceské Budejovice, Czech Republic. george@paru.cas.cz
authors.forename: Jirí
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Salát
authors.forename: Jirí
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jelínek
authors.forename: Jindrich
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chmelar
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kopecky
mesh_terms: D019264:Adoptive Transfer; D000818:Animals; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000276:immunology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000918:Antibody Specificity; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D009670:Encephalitozoon cuniculi / Q000276:immunology*; D016890:Encephalitozoonosis / Q000276:immunology* / Q000401:mortality / Q000469:parasitology / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D007167:Immunotherapy; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000235:genetics / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D016513:Mice, SCID; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D007371:Interferon-gamma