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Vaccinating with soluble Leishmania major promastigote exogenous antigens (LmSEAgs) protects mice against challenge with L. major. To explore the potential of LmSEAgs to cross-protect against infection with other species of Leishmania, BALB/c mice were immunized with LmSEAgs prior to challenge with either L. donovani or L. braziliensis promastigotes. Such mice were protected against L. donovani but not L. braziliensis infection. Leishmania braziliensisinfected mice developed lesions that were not significantly different from those of controls and that contained 13-fold more parasites. In contrast, immunized mice infected with L. donovani were protected as illustrated by low splenic parasite loads (as much as 4,913-fold fewer parasites). This protection corresponded to significant increases in gamma interferon and low production of interleukin-4 (IL-4) IL-4 or IL-10, which suggested an enhanced type 1 response.
Received July 18, 2006. Accepted for publication November 27, 2006.
Acknowledgments: We thank Sheryl Carter and Jeanette V. Bishop for technical assistance, and Lisa P. Hochberg, Jeffrey R. Ryan, and Samuel K. Martin for help in many facets of this project.
Financial support: This study was supported by The Medical Research and Materiel Command, Military Infectious Diseases Research Program, Contract number DAMD17-01-P-0237 and National Institutes of Health AI 027511, AI029955, and AI 065784.
* Address correspondence to Richard G. Titus, Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Pathology, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523-1619. E-mail: rtitus{at}colostate.edu
Authors addresses: Willy K. Tonui, Centre for Biotechnology Research and Development, Kenya Medical Research Institute, PO Box 54840, Nairobi 00200, Kenya, Telephone: 254-020-2722541/4, E-mail: wtonui{at}kemri.org. Richard G. Titus, Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Pathology, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523-1619, Telephone: 970-491-4964, Fax: 970-491 0603, E-mail: rtitus{at}colostate.edu.
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