title: Plasma levels of chemokines during leprosy specific treatment.
abstract: Leprosy, whose etiologic agent is Mycobacterium leprae, is an illness of ample clinical and immunopathological spectrum. Although chemokines seem to be involved in the immunopathogenesis of leprosis, few studies have been carried out to unveil the potential of chemokines as biological markers of the disease. The purpose of this study was to investigate the value of measuring CCL2, CCL3, CCL11 and CCL24 in plasma of patients with leprosy (LE) at different stages of multi-drug therapy (MDT). Chemokines were measured by ELISA in plasma of 30 non-infected individuals (NI) and 33 LE patients before and at different stages of treatment. The plasma concentration of CCL11 (p<0.01) and CCL24 (p<0.05) was increased in LE patients before treatment when compared to NI individuals. The plasma concentration of CCL24 decreased after MDT (p<0.05). No differences were observed in the concentration of CCL2 and CCL3 in plasma of NI and LE individuals. The elevated levels of CCL11 and CCL24 in plasma of patients with LE suggest that these chemokines may play a role in disease pathogenesis. Moreover, the decrease of CCL24 after treatment suggests that this chemokine might be useful as a biomarker of response to MDT in patients with leprosy.
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Imunofarmacologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
authors.forename: Vanessa Amaral
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Mendonça
authors.forename: Rosane Dias
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Costa
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lyon
authors.forename: Rachel Adriana
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Penido
authors.forename: Valdinéria Oliveira
authors.initials: VO
authors.lastname: Borges
authors.forename: Thales Lage
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Bretas
authors.forename: Carlos Mauricio
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Antunes
authors.forename: Mauro Martins
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Teixeira
authors.forename: Antonio Lúcio
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Teixeira
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D054413:Chemokine CCL11 / Q000097:blood; D054423:Chemokine CCL24 / Q000097:blood; D018925:Chemokines / Q000097:blood*; D002991:Clofazimine / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003622:Dapsone / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007753:Laboratories; D007917:Leprostatic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D007918:Leprosy / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009166:Mycobacterium leprae / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000276:immunology; D012293:Rifampin / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D054413:Chemokine CCL11; D054423:Chemokine CCL24; D018925:Chemokines; D007917:Leprostatic Agents; D003622:Dapsone; D002991:Clofazimine; D012293:Rifampin