Mef. Brito et al., Dynamics of the antibody response in patients with therapeutic or spontaneous cure of American cutaneous leishmaniasis, T RS TROP M, 95(2), 2001, pp. 203-206
Citations number
22
Categorie Soggetti
Envirnomentale Medicine & Public Health","Medical Research General Topics
Journal title
TRANSACTIONS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF TROPICAL MEDICINE AND HYGIENE
The antigen specificity and the level of the antibody response were analyse
d in Perambuco Stare, Brazil, in sera collected in 1995-96 from 58 patients
with clinical American cutaneous leishmaniasis (ACL), 25 ACL patients with
apparent cure after chemotherapy with meglumine antimonate, and 10 ACL pat
ients with spontaneous cure. Assessment was by immunoblot analysis, ELISA a
nd indirect immunofluorescence, with Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis anti
gens, with a particular interest in evaluating whether the dynamics of the
antibody response could be useful to monitor clinical cure. A clear decreas
e of IgG antibody reactivity was noticed after clinical healing, for all of
the antigens analysed, with the exception of the 19 kDa antigen, whose rec
ognition frequency in fact increased in the spontaneously cured patients, s
uggesting that this antigen may play a role in protective immunity against
cutaneous leishmaniasis. The recognition frequencies of the most frequently
recognized antigens (27 and 30 kDa antigens) diminished approximately 2-fo
ld in patients clinically healed, suggesting that they could be useful as a
marker of cure of ACL. In addition, some of the healthy individuals living
in endemic areas presented the same immunoblotting pattern of reactivity o
bserved in active ACL, possibly representing asymptomatically infected indi
viduals.