Nitric oxide production by macrophages of dogs vaccinated with killed Leishmania infantum promastigotes. |
| |
| Authors: | M A Panaro A Acquafredda S Lisi D D Lofrumento V Mitolo M Sisto A Fasanella T Trotta F Bertani B Consenti O Brandonisio |
| |
| Affiliation: | Dipartimento di Anatomia Umana e Istologia, University of Bari, Istloogia Policlinico, Italy. ma.panaro@anatomia.uniba.it |
| |
| Abstract: | Human visceral leishmaniosis is endemic in Southern Italy, where the dog is the main reservoir of viscerotropic strains of Leishmania infantum. The release of nitric oxide (NO) by interferon (IFN)-gamma-activated macrophages is an important leishmanicidal mechanism in several animal species. In this work NO production, phagocytosis and killing capacity of monocyte-derived dog macrophages were evaluated in vitro before and after administration of a vaccine composed of killed Leishmania infantum promastigotes. Moreover, IFN-gamma content was measured in concanavalin A-activated dog peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) supernatants employed for macrophage stimulation. Phagocytosis, killing capacity and NO production by canine macrophages increased significantly 1 month after vaccine administration, and the increase also persisted 5 months later. In addition, the amount of IFN-gamma in PBMC supernatants was significantly higher after vaccination. Overall, our results suggest the usefulness of evaluating the in vivo protective role of this promastigote preparation in dogs. |
| |
| Keywords: | |
|
|
