title: Miltefosine triggers a strong proinflammatory cytokine response during visceral leishmaniasis: role of TLR4 and TLR9.
abstract: Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) caused by the protozoan parasite, Leishmania donovani, is associated with irregular fever, weight loss, hepatosplenomegaly and anemia. The therapeutic arsenal against VL is limited and the recent advent of a novel immunomodulatory drug, Miltefosine has shown promising results for effective treatment of VL but its dependence on Toll like receptors (TLR) has not been explored. In this study, we have shown that the non-cytotoxic dose (5 μM) of Miltefosine could render significant protection corresponding to 88% and 95% reduction in intracellular parasite load at 24 h and 48 h in L. donovani infected THP1 cells. This was accompanied by a strong proinflammatory cytokine response in the form of IFN-γ, IL-12 and TNF-α as evident by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and real time PCR (RT-PCR). This Miltefosine induced proinflammatory cytokine response in infected THP1 cells was also accompanied by simultaneous 10- and 12-fold increase in TLR4 mRNA and TLR9 mRNA. These changes in cytokine response and TLR expression were also studied in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of VL patients treated with Miltefosine by RT-PCR which showed similar results as in THP1 cells. Thereby, suggesting a probable dependence of Miltefosine on TLR4 and TLR9 in triggering a proinflammatory response.
authors.affiliation: Division of Molecular Medicine, Bose Institute, Kolkata, India.
authors.forename: Asok Kumar
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Mukherjee
authors.forename: Gaurav
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.forename: Anupam
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Adhikari
authors.forename: Saikat
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Majumder
authors.forename: Santanu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kar Mahapatra
authors.forename: Suchandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bhattacharyya Majumdar
authors.forename: Subrata
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Majumdar
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000981:Antiprotozoal Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002460:Cell Line; D016207:Cytokines / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007893:Leishmania donovani; D007898:Leishmaniasis, Visceral / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology; D008297:Male; D010767:Phosphorylcholine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000494:pharmacology; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000276:immunology; D051197:Toll-Like Receptor 4 / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D051217:Toll-Like Receptor 9 / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000981:Antiprotozoal Agents; D016207:Cytokines; D012333:RNA, Messenger; C495345:TLR4 protein, human; C495371:TLR9 protein, human; D051197:Toll-Like Receptor 4; D051217:Toll-Like Receptor 9; D010767:Phosphorylcholine; C039128:miltefosine