M. Correnti et G. Ortega, DIFFERENCES IN THE LYMPHOPROLIFERATIVE PATTERN TO LEISHMANIA-MEXICANAANTIGENS RECOGNIZED BY IMMUNIZED AND INFECTED MICE, Acta Tropica, 58(3-4), 1994, pp. 243-253
Immunity to leishmanial infection depends primarily on the activities
initiated by T lymphocytes which have been sensitized to a diverse poo
l of parasitic antigens. In this study, the pattern of the lymphoproli
ferative responses of lymph node and spleen cells isolated from BALB/c
and C57BL/6 mice previously infected with Leishmania mexicana was het
erogeneous. However, we observed more pronounced responses to antigen
fractions with molecular masses of 63 and 10-15 kDa, based on T cell i
mmunoblotting. Responses were stronger and more persistent in the inte
rmediate resistant C57BL/6 strain, as compared to the more evanescent
response in the highly susceptible BALB/c mice. Similar responses in t
erms of immunodominant fractions were also consistently seen in total
and T lymphocytes isolated from BALB/c mice which had been immunized w
ith a soluble extract of Leishmania mexicana. These results are discus
sed in terms of general requirements for an effective vaccine against
human leishmaniasis.