Interferon-gamma (INF-gamma), IL4 expression levels and Leishmania DNA load as prognostic markers for monitoring response to treatment of leishmaniotic dogs with miltefosine and allopurinol.
In this study, we searched for a connection between Leishmania load and cytokine expression levels in the tissues of Leishmaniainfantum naturally infected dogs and the efficacy of treatment with miltefosine and allopurinol. To this purpose, we exploited a real-time PCR system to detect Leishmania load and the expression levels of IFN-gamma and IL-4 mRNAs at the time of diagnosis and during the follow up post-treatment. In particular, we measured the amount of parasites in blood and lymph node samples, while the expression levels of IFN-gamma and IL-4 cytokines were assessed in the blood of the animals. We employed different targeted real-time PCR assays on 20 naturally infected dogs with clinical signs. Three healthy dogs living in a non-endemic area were selected as negative controls. The overall results obtained demonstrate that the simultaneous evaluation of parasites and cytokine levels in different kinds of tissue might represent a reliable tool to evaluate the immune response, the efficacy of the therapy and to predict the relapses during the treatment.
Manna
Laura
L
Dipartimento di Scienze Cliniche Veterinarie, Università di Napoli Federico II, Via F. Delpino, n.1, 80137 Napoli, Italy. laumanna@unina.it
Reale
Stefano
S
Picillo
Esther
E
Vitale
Fabrizio
F
Gravino
Angelo Elio
AE
D000493:Allopurinol / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000818:Animals; D000981:Antiprotozoal Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D016054:DNA, Protozoan / Q000097:blood; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000276:immunology / Q000469:parasitology; D004285:Dogs; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000097:blood* / Q000276:immunology; D015847:Interleukin-4 / Q000097:blood* / Q000276:immunology; D018314:Leishmania infantum / Q000235:genetics*; D007898:Leishmaniasis, Visceral / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000276:immunology / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary*; D010767:Phosphorylcholine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000627:therapeutic use
D000981:Antiprotozoal Agents; D015415:Biomarkers; D016054:DNA, Protozoan; D010767:Phosphorylcholine; D015847:Interleukin-4; C039128:miltefosine; D000493:Allopurinol; D007371:Interferon-gamma