Topic
Visceral leishmaniasis
About: Visceral leishmaniasis is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 7486 publications have been published within this topic receiving 184865 citations. The topic is also known as: Kala-Azar & viscus leishmaniasis.
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TL;DR: Comparable levels of protection were found for mice boosted with either LACK-WR or Lack-MVA, supporting the use of an attenuated vaccinia virus-based vaccine against human visceral leishmaniasis.
Abstract: This study reports the efficacy of a heterologous prime-boost vaccination using DNA and vaccinia viruses (Western Reserve [WR] virus and modified [attenuated] vaccinia virus Ankara [MVA]) expressing the LACK antigen (Leishmania homologue of receptors for activated C kinase) and an intradermal murine infection model employing Leishmania infantum. At 1 month postinfection, vaccinated mice showed high levels of protection in the draining lymph node (240-fold reduction in parasite burden) coupled with significant levels of gamma interferon (20 to 200 ng/ml) and tumor necrosis factor alpha/lymphotoxin (8 to 134 pg/ml). Significant but lower levels of protection (6- to 30-fold) were observed in the spleen and liver. Comparable levels of protection were found for mice boosted with either LACK-WR or LACK-MVA, supporting the use of an attenuated vaccinia virus-based vaccine against human visceral leishmaniasis.
79 citations
TL;DR: The rising PKDL incidence threatens the regional visceral leishmaniasis elimination initiative and underscores the urgent need for more effective PKDL diagnosis and treatment.
Abstract: Post-kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis (PKDL) occurs after kala-azar treatment and acts as a durable infection reservoir. On the basis of active case finding among 22,699 respondents, 813 (3.6%) had had kala-azar since 2002, of whom 79 (9.7%) developed PKDL. Eight additional patients with PKDL had no history of kala-azar. Annual kala-azar incidence peaked at 85 cases per 10,000 person-years in 2004 and fell to 46 cases per 10,000 person-years in 2007, but PKDL incidence rose from 1 case per 10,000 person-years in 2002-2004 to 21 cases per 10,000 person-years in 2007. The rising PKDL incidence threatens the regional visceral leishmaniasis elimination initiative and underscores the urgent need for more effective PKDL diagnosis and treatment.
79 citations
TL;DR: Preliminary attempts to adapt the indirect fluorescent antibody test were unsuccessful when promastigote forms of a recent human isolate of Leishmania braziliensis from culture were used as antigen, but the use of intracellular amastigotes, freed from Vero tissue culture cells by osmotic disruption, resulted in reproducible specific reactions.
Abstract: The frequent difficulty of establishing a parasitologic diagnosis in American leishmaniasis has established the need for a reliable serologic test, which has not been available up to this time Preliminary attempts to adapt the indirect fluorescent antibody test were unsuccessful when promastigote forms of a recent human isolate of Leishmania braziliensis from culture were used as antigen However, the use of intracellular amastigote forms freed from Vero tissue culture cells by osmotic disruption, resulted in reproducible specific reactions in 89% of 75 sera of leishmaniasis patients Reactions up to a dilution of 1:1,024 were obtained, with a mode at 1:16 In comparison, 93% of control sera from 100 healthy persons and 75 hospital patients with other diseases gave completely negative reactions, and the great majority of those nonspecific reactions which did occur were at a dilution of 1:8 This test has proved to be a useful adjunct to other diagnostic procedures
79 citations
TL;DR: This study has shown that this novel formulation of AmB can be administered orally, resulting in 99% inhibition of parasite growth following a 5-day course at 15 mg/kg body weight.
Abstract: Amphotericin B (AmB), is a highly effective antileishmanial agent used as first-line treatment in different formulations in visceral leishmaniasis endemic areas of Bihar, India. However, parenteral infusion, prolonged hospitalization, and toxicity are major hurdles. Our previous work demonstrated the efficacy and stability of functionalized carbon nanotubes as a delivery mechanism for AmB. In this study, using the hamster model, we have shown that this novel formulation of AmB can be administered orally, resulting in 99% inhibition of parasite growth following a 5-day course at 15 mg/kg body weight.
79 citations
TL;DR: A case in a 52-year-old Thai male from northern Thailand, who presented with subacute fever, huge splenomegaly and pancytopenia, is reported, the first report of visceral leishmaniasis caused by L. martiniquensis from the region.
Abstract: Since 1996, there have been several case reports of autochthonous visceral leishmaniasis in Thailand. Here we report a case in a 52-year-old Thai male from northern Thailand, who presented with subacute fever, huge splenomegaly and pancytopenia. Bone marrow aspiration revealed numerous amastigotes within macrophages. Isolation of Leishmania LSCM1 into culture and DNA sequence analysis (ribosomal RNA ITS-1 and large subunit of RNA polymerase II) revealed the parasites to be members of the Leishmania enriettii complex, and apparently identical to L. martiniquensis previously reported from the Caribbean island of Martinique. This is the first report of visceral leishmaniasis caused by L. martiniquensis from the region. Moreover, the majority of parasites previously identified as "L. siamensis" also appear to be L. martiniquensis.
78 citations