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Studies on cocktails of 31‐ kD a, 36‐ kD a and 51‐ kD a antigens of L eishmania donovani along with saponin against murine visceral leishmaniasis
Author(s) -
Kaur H.,
Thakur A.,
Kaur S.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
parasite immunology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.795
H-Index - 75
eISSN - 1365-3024
pISSN - 0141-9838
DOI - 10.1111/pim.12176
Subject(s) - antigen , adjuvant , immune system , biology , immunology , immunogenicity , antibody , microbiology and biotechnology
Summary A substantial number of antigens of L eishmania donovani have been described in the past. However, identifying candidate antigens is not enough. Appropriate antigen delivery to induce the right type of immune response against leishmaniasis (i.e. induction of a strong antigen‐specific Th1 type of immune response) is another crucial component of an effective vaccine. Therefore, ‘cocktail’ vaccines are proposed based on the assumption that such cocktails will show enhanced efficacy. Studies have been carried out on LD 31 and LD 51 polypeptides from L. donovani promastigotes, which have proven to be potential vaccine candidates. This study was designed to check the protective efficacy of various cocktails of low molecular weight antigens alone and along with saponin as adjuvant. Mice were sacrificed on different post‐challenge days for evaluation of parasite load and other immunological parameters. Protective efficacy of different vaccine formulations was revealed by significant decline in parasite burden and increased DTH Delayed Type Hypersenstivity responses. The antibody response was of IgG type with elevated IgG2a and decreased production of IgG1, whereas cytokine levels pointed towards the generation of protective Th1 type of immune response. Among all vaccine formulations, cocktail of 31+51+saponin was found to be highly immunogenic and imparted maximum protection.