leishmania antigens are weak immunogens and need to be potentiated by various adjuvants and delivery systems. alginate microspheres as an antigen delivery system and quillaja saponins (qs) as an immunoadjuvant have been used to enhance the immune response against autoclaved leishmania major (alm). microspheres were prepared by an emulsification technique and characterized for size, encapsulatio...

In order to survive within the macrophages of its host organism, the protozoan parasite Leishmania inhibits a number of critical, gamma interferon (IFN-gamma)-inducible, macrophage functions, including the generation of nitric oxide. We have previously shown that the protein tyrosine phosphatase SHP-1 (Src-homology 2 domain containing phosphatase-1) is activated during Leishmania infection and ...

As key cells, able to host and kill Leishmania parasites, inflammatory monocytes/macrophages are potential vaccine and therapeutic targets to improve immune responses in Leishmaniasis. Macrophage phenotypes range from M1, which express NO-mediated microbial killing, to M2 macrophages that might help infection. Resistance to Leishmaniasis depends on Leishmania species, mouse strain, and both inn...

Proliferation of Leishmania (L.) parasites depends on polyamine availability, which can be generated by the L-arginine catabolism and the enzymatic activity of arginase (ARG) of the parasites and of the mammalian hosts. In the present study, we characterized and compared the arginase (arg) genes from pathogenic L. major and L. tropica and from non-pathogenic L. tarentolae. We quantified the lev...

In order to understand the determinants of human infection by Leishmania chagasi in an urban area, a cross-sectional population based study was conducted using molecular and serologic methods to identify infection. Participants were interviewed using a pre-coded questionnaire. Two criteria were tested to identify risk factors: Model 1including all participants positive in hybridization by Leish...

We evaluated the use of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for diagnosis of mucosal leishmaniasis (ML) in an endemic area in Acre, Brazil, where Leishmania braziliensis is present. Leishmania DNA was detected 34 of 35 cases, yielding a positivity rate of 97.1%, which was higher than the positivity rates for all of the other diagnostic methods studied, namely Montenegro skin test (MST), anti-Leishm...

altogether, 120 rodents of 4 species were trapped alive in various parts of meshkin-shar district where visceral leishmaniasis is endemic. 13 of them were cricetulus migratorius (gray hamste) that all were caught inside the living rooms. nine of them showed leishmania antibody in titers of ≥ 1:100 in direct agglutination test (dat) and amastigotes were found in the spleen smears of 2 cricetulus...

We report the case of a 33-year-old man referred to our department with a skin ulcer that had appeared 1 year earlier on the left posterior axillary fold. His medical history was remarkable for chronic hepatitis B infection being treated with adefovir and for psoriatic arthritis, under treatment with leflunomide 20 mg/d, prednisone 5 mg/d, and infliximab 5 mg/kg every 8 weeks for the past 2 yea...

Leishmania is resident within the macrophages of its vertebrate host. In any intramacrophage infection, where the pathogen is present in a form capable of mediating cell to cell transmission, the contribution of a cytotoxic T cell response to protective immunity is questionable. This study presents data from an in vitro model designed to elucidate the outcome of an interaction between CD8+, cyt...