title: Immunity to Leishmania and the rational search for vaccines against canine leishmaniasis.
abstract: The control of infection by Leishmania infantum (syn. Leishmania chagasi) in dogs is essential to stop the current spread of zoonotic visceral leishmaniasis. The past few years have seen significant advances in achieving efficient immunization of dogs and, more than ever before, an effective vaccine against canine leishmaniasis can now be considered a feasible goal. This article summarizes experimental data gathered from recent dog trials aimed at identifying immunological mechanisms implicated in protection against canine infection to discuss their potential to serve as quantitative surrogate markers of immunization and, more importantly, its usefulness to evaluate whether the immunity induced by the vaccine candidate is strong enough to protect against canine leishmaniasis.
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Imunopatologia, Núcleo de Pesquisas em Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto, Ouro Preto, MG, Brazil.
authors.forename: Alexandre B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Reis
authors.forename: Rodolfo C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Giunchetti
authors.forename: Eugenia
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Carrillo
authors.forename: Olindo A
authors.initials: OA
authors.lastname: Martins-Filho
authors.forename: Javier
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Moreno
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000276:immunology / Q000469:parasitology* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D004285:Dogs; D007891:Leishmania / Q000276:immunology*; D007898:Leishmaniasis, Visceral / Q000276:immunology / Q000469:parasitology / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000662:veterinary*; D016052:Protozoan Vaccines / Q000276:immunology* / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D016052:Protozoan Vaccines