Lar. De Freitas et al., Indomethacin treatment slows disease progression and enhances a Th1 response in susceptible BALB/c mice infected with Leishmania major, PARASITE IM, 21(5), 1999, pp. 273-277
Prostaglandins of the E series inhibit the development of Th1 responses. Wh
en infected with Leishmania major, BALB/c mice fail to develop a Th1 respon
se, but instead mount a Th2 response and die of the disease. Therefore, we
treated L. major-infected BALB/c mice with indomethacin, which inhibits pro
staglandin production. Indomethacin lessened disease severity (parasite bur
den and pathology), and promoted a Th1 response, but the mice still succumb
ed to infection. The explanation for these observations may be two-fold: (1
) the beneficial effects of indomethacin were predominantly observed later
in infection (beyond two weeks), a time at which indomethacin was unable to
sufficiently block the development of a Th2 response; (2) indomethacin was
unable to induce a Th1 response in BALB/e mice that was of the same magnit
ude as the Th1 response observed in C57BL6 mice infected with L. major.