title: Evaluation of the alum-naloxone adjuvant activity against experimental murine leishmaniasis due toL. major.
abstract: Leishmaniasis is caused by intracellular parasites ofLeishmaniaspecies, which are transmitted by the bite of the sandfly. Recovery and protection against the infection depends on the induction of a strong Th1 type of immune response. Vaccination of mice with the opioid antagonist naloxone can promote the activation of the Th1 responses. We studied the efficacy of the mixture of naloxone and alum, as an adjuvant, to enhance immune responses and induce protection againstLeishmania majorinfection in BALB/c as a susceptible mouse model. BALB/c mice were immunized with Ag-naloxone-alum, Ag-alum, Ag-naloxone or PBS subcutaneously three times at 2-week intervals. The humoral and cellular specific immune responses were assessed 2 weeks after the last immunization and compared with the control mice. Our results indicated that the administration of alum-naloxone as an adjuvant increased the capability ofL. majorpromastigote antigens to enhance lymphocyte proliferation, the levels of IFN-γ, and the IFN-γ/IL-5 ratio. The results of DTH showed that there were no significant differences in footpad swelling between the groups of immunized mice as compared with the non-vaccinated control group; however, no significant differences were observed in the survival rate among groups. It can be concluded that although immunization with the alum-naloxone mixture in combination with the autoclavedL. majorpromastigote antigens could enhance cellular immunity and shift the immune response to a Th1 pattern, it could not protect the mice againstLeishmania majorinfection.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Parasitology and Mycology, Faculty of Medicine, Urmia University of Medical Sciences, Road of Nazloo, Urmia, Iran.
authors.forename: Arezoo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bozorgomid
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Parasitology and Mycology, Faculty of Medicine, Urmia University of Medical Sciences, Road of Nazloo, Urmia, Iran.
authors.forename: Habib Mohammadzadeh
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Hajipirloo
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Parasitology and Mycology, Faculty of Medicine, Urmia University of Medical Sciences, Road of Nazloo, Urmia, Iran.
authors.forename: Khosrow Hazrati
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Tappeh
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Parasitology and Mycology, Faculty of Medicine, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Shahid Shiroudi Blvrd., Daneshgah St., Kermanshah, Iran.
authors.forename: Naser
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Nazari
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Parasitology and Mycology, Faculty of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Velenjak St., Shahid Chamran Highway, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Seyed Ahmad
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Karamati
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Samira
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shirooie
keywords: Adjuvant; Alum; Leishmania major; Naloxone