title: Studies on the protective efficacy of second-generation vaccine along with standard antileishmanial drug in Leishmania donovani infected BALB/c mice.
abstract: It is well established that visceral leishmaniasis (VL; also known as Kala azar) causes immunosuppression, and a successful drug treatment is associated with the development of cell-mediated immunity. Therefore combining a drug with an immune enhancer can provide a better approach for the treatment of the disease. Keeping this in mind, the in vivo antileishmanial efficacy of immunochemotherapy was evaluated with the use of a 78 kDa antigen with or without monophosphoryl lipid A (MPL-A) along with a traditional drug sodium stibogluconate (SSG) in Leishmania donovani infected BALB/c mice. Mice were infected intracardially with promastigotes of L. donovani, and 30 days after infection, these animals were given specific immunotherapy (78 kDa/78 kDa+MPL-A) or chemotherapy (SSG) or immunochemotherapy (SSG+78 kDa/SSG+78 kDa+MPL-A). Animals were euthanased on 1, 15 and 30 post-treatment days. The antileishmanial potential of the immunochemotherapy was revealed by significant reduction in the parasite burden (P<0·001). These animals were also found to exhibit increased delayed type hypersensitivity (DTH) responses, higher IgG2a levels, lower IgG1 levels and greater cytokine (IFN-γ and IL-2) concentrations compared with chemotherapy or immunotherapy alone, pointing towards the generation of a strong protective (Th1) type of immune response. Immunochemotherapy with SSG+78 kDa+MPL-A was found to be most effective in protecting mice against VL and therefore can be an alternative option for treatment of VL.
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, Panjab University, Chandigarh 160014, India.
authors.forename: Jyoti
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Joshi
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, Panjab University, Chandigarh 160014, India.
authors.forename: Sukhbir
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kaur
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan / Q000276:immunology*; D000953:Antigens, Protozoan / Q000276:immunology*; D000967:Antimony Sodium Gluconate / Q000494:pharmacology; D000981:Antiprotozoal Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016207:Cytokines / Q000276:immunology; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005260:Female; D007111:Immunity, Cellular; D007893:Leishmania donovani / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology*; D054332:Leishmaniasis Vaccines / Q000494:pharmacology*; D007898:Leishmaniasis, Visceral / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000276:immunology* / Q000469:parasitology; D008050:Lipid A / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000494:pharmacology; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D059208:Parasite Load
chemical_list: D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan; D000953:Antigens, Protozoan; D000981:Antiprotozoal Agents; D016207:Cytokines; D054332:Leishmaniasis Vaccines; D008050:Lipid A; C048436:monophosphoryl lipid A; D000967:Antimony Sodium Gluconate