EXPERIMENTAL IMMUNIZATION AGAINST CUTANEOUS LEISHMANIASIS USING LEISHMANIA-MAJOR SUBCELLULAR-FRACTIONS ALONE OR IN COMBINATION WITH PHLEBOTOMUS-DUBOSCQI GUT ANTIGENS

Leishmania major-derived flagella and nuclear fractions, and a combina tion of flagella and sand fly gut ant;gens were assessed for protectio n against L. major infection in BALB/c mice. Mice immunized with flage lla antigen developed a severe infection while nuclear fraction-immuni zed animals were partially protected at the onset of infection from we ek 1 to 4 post challenge. A combination/cock tail of flagella and sand Ply gut antigens protected animals at a later stage from week 10 to 1 4 post-infection. Surviving cocktail-immunized animals did not ulcerat e, and parasites did not metastasize to the viscera. These results pro vide preliminary evidence of the potential of a cock tail antigen deri ved from Leishmania flagella and sand fly gut in the protection agains t cutaneous leishmaniasis caused by L. major.