title: Leishmania infantum FML pulsed-dendritic cells induce a protective immune response in murine visceral leishmaniasis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the efficacy of FML loaded dendritic cells (DCs) in protection against visceral leishmaniasis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Mice were immunized with FML- or soluble Leishmania antigen-loaded DCs as well as FML or soluble Leishmania antigen in saponin and challenged with parasite. The levels of cytokines before and after challenge were detected by ELISA. Parasite burden (total Leishman-Donovan unit) was determined after parasite challenge.
  
  
  RESULTS
  FML-saponin induced the highest IFN-γ/IL-4 ratio among vaccinated groups, though this ratio was higher in FML-loaded DCs group subsequent to challenge with Leishmania infantum. Moreover, the greatest reduction in parasite number was detected in mice vaccinated with FML-loaded DCs compared with phosphate-buffered saline-treated mice (p = 0.002).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  FML-loaded DCs are one of the promising tools for protection against murine visceral leishmaniasis.
authors.affiliation: Departmant of Parasitology & Mycology, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Faeze
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Foroughi-Parvar
authors.forename: Gholam-Reza
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Hatam
authors.forename: Bahador
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Sarkari
authors.forename: Eskandar
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kamali-Sarvestani
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003713:Dendritic Cells / Q000276:immunology*; D006023:Glycoproteins / Q000276:immunology*; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000276:immunology; D015847:Interleukin-4 / Q000276:immunology; D018314:Leishmania infantum / Q000276:immunology*; D054332:Leishmaniasis Vaccines / Q000276:immunology*; D007898:Leishmaniasis, Visceral / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D015800:Protozoan Proteins / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D006023:Glycoproteins; D054332:Leishmaniasis Vaccines; D015800:Protozoan Proteins; D015847:Interleukin-4; D007371:Interferon-gamma
keywords: FML; IFN-γ; IL-4; Leishmania; dendritic cells; soluble leishmania antigen; vaccination