THE ADJUVANT EFFECT OF INTERLEUKIN-12 IN A VACCINE AGAINST LEISHMANIA-MAJOR

Protection induced by vaccination depends on the capacity of the vacci ne to elicit an appropriate immune response. In leishmaniasis, protect ion requires leishmanial-specific CD4+ T helper (T(H)) cells. Vaccinat ion of BAL-B/c mice with leishmanial antigens and interleukin-12 (IL-1 2) promoted the development of leishmanial-specific CD4+ T(H)1 cells T hese mice were resistant to subsequent infection with Leishmania major . Thus, IL-12 is an effective adjuvant for the initiation of protectiv e cell-mediated immunity against leishmaniasis and may be an important component in other vaccines that need tc induce cell-mediated immunit y.