Cytokine responses to novel antigens in an Indian population living in an area endemic for visceral leishmaniasis.

<h4>Background</h4>There are no effective vaccines for visceral leishmaniasis (VL), a neglected parasitic disease second only to malaria in global mortality. We previously identified 14 protective candidates in a screen of 100 Leishmania antigens as DNA vaccines in mice. Here we employ w...

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Main Authors: Om Prakash Singh, Carmel B Stober, Abhishek Kr Singh, Jenefer M Blackwell, Shyam Sundar
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2012-01-01
Series:PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases
Online Access:https://journals.plos.org/plosntds/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pntd.0001874&type=printable
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author Om Prakash Singh
Carmel B Stober
Abhishek Kr Singh
Jenefer M Blackwell
Shyam Sundar
author_facet Om Prakash Singh
Carmel B Stober
Abhishek Kr Singh
Jenefer M Blackwell
Shyam Sundar
author_sort Om Prakash Singh
collection DOAJ
description <h4>Background</h4>There are no effective vaccines for visceral leishmaniasis (VL), a neglected parasitic disease second only to malaria in global mortality. We previously identified 14 protective candidates in a screen of 100 Leishmania antigens as DNA vaccines in mice. Here we employ whole blood assays to evaluate human cytokine responses to 11 of these antigens, in comparison to known defined and crude antigen preparations.<h4>Methods</h4>Whole blood assays were employed to measure IFN-γ, TNF-α and IL-10 responses to peptide pools of the novel antigens R71, Q51, L37, N52, L302.06, J89, M18, J41, M22, M63, M57, as well as to recombinant proteins of tryparedoxin peroxidase (TRYP), Leishmania homolog of the receptor for activated C kinase (LACK) and to crude soluble Leishmania antigen (SLA), in Indian patients with active (n = 8) or cured (n = 16) VL, and in modified Quantiferon positive (EHC(+ve), n = 20) or modified Quantiferon negative (EHC(-ve), n = 9) endemic healthy controls (EHC).<h4>Results</h4>Active VL, cured VL and EHC(+ve) groups showed elevated SLA-specific IFN-γ, but only active VL patients produced IL-10 and EHC(+ve) did not make TNF-α. IFN-γ to IL-10 and TNF-α to IL-10 ratios in response to TRYP and LACK antigens were higher in cured VL and EHC(+ve) exposed individuals compared to active VL. Five of the eleven novel candidates (R71, L37, N52, J41, and M22) elicited IFN-γ and TNF-α, but not IL-10, responses in cured VL (55-87.5% responders) and EHC(+ve) (40-65% responders) subjects.<h4>Conclusions</h4>Our results are consistent with an important balance between pro-inflammatory IFNγ and TNFγ cytokine responses and anti-inflammatory IL-10 in determining outcome of VL in India, as highlighted by response to both crude and defined protein antigens. Importantly, cured VL patients and endemic Quantiferon positive individuals recognise 5 novel vaccine candidate antigens, confirming our recent data for L. chagasi in Brazil, and their potential as cross-species vaccine candidates.
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spelling doaj-art-ae0dfbe099bd4dbd97d2c8b091fee2412025-08-20T02:15:23ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases1935-27271935-27352012-01-01610e187410.1371/journal.pntd.0001874Cytokine responses to novel antigens in an Indian population living in an area endemic for visceral leishmaniasis.Om Prakash SinghCarmel B StoberAbhishek Kr SinghJenefer M BlackwellShyam Sundar<h4>Background</h4>There are no effective vaccines for visceral leishmaniasis (VL), a neglected parasitic disease second only to malaria in global mortality. We previously identified 14 protective candidates in a screen of 100 Leishmania antigens as DNA vaccines in mice. Here we employ whole blood assays to evaluate human cytokine responses to 11 of these antigens, in comparison to known defined and crude antigen preparations.<h4>Methods</h4>Whole blood assays were employed to measure IFN-γ, TNF-α and IL-10 responses to peptide pools of the novel antigens R71, Q51, L37, N52, L302.06, J89, M18, J41, M22, M63, M57, as well as to recombinant proteins of tryparedoxin peroxidase (TRYP), Leishmania homolog of the receptor for activated C kinase (LACK) and to crude soluble Leishmania antigen (SLA), in Indian patients with active (n = 8) or cured (n = 16) VL, and in modified Quantiferon positive (EHC(+ve), n = 20) or modified Quantiferon negative (EHC(-ve), n = 9) endemic healthy controls (EHC).<h4>Results</h4>Active VL, cured VL and EHC(+ve) groups showed elevated SLA-specific IFN-γ, but only active VL patients produced IL-10 and EHC(+ve) did not make TNF-α. IFN-γ to IL-10 and TNF-α to IL-10 ratios in response to TRYP and LACK antigens were higher in cured VL and EHC(+ve) exposed individuals compared to active VL. Five of the eleven novel candidates (R71, L37, N52, J41, and M22) elicited IFN-γ and TNF-α, but not IL-10, responses in cured VL (55-87.5% responders) and EHC(+ve) (40-65% responders) subjects.<h4>Conclusions</h4>Our results are consistent with an important balance between pro-inflammatory IFNγ and TNFγ cytokine responses and anti-inflammatory IL-10 in determining outcome of VL in India, as highlighted by response to both crude and defined protein antigens. Importantly, cured VL patients and endemic Quantiferon positive individuals recognise 5 novel vaccine candidate antigens, confirming our recent data for L. chagasi in Brazil, and their potential as cross-species vaccine candidates.https://journals.plos.org/plosntds/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pntd.0001874&type=printable
spellingShingle Om Prakash Singh
Carmel B Stober
Abhishek Kr Singh
Jenefer M Blackwell
Shyam Sundar
Cytokine responses to novel antigens in an Indian population living in an area endemic for visceral leishmaniasis.
PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases
title Cytokine responses to novel antigens in an Indian population living in an area endemic for visceral leishmaniasis.
title_full Cytokine responses to novel antigens in an Indian population living in an area endemic for visceral leishmaniasis.
title_fullStr Cytokine responses to novel antigens in an Indian population living in an area endemic for visceral leishmaniasis.
title_full_unstemmed Cytokine responses to novel antigens in an Indian population living in an area endemic for visceral leishmaniasis.
title_short Cytokine responses to novel antigens in an Indian population living in an area endemic for visceral leishmaniasis.
title_sort cytokine responses to novel antigens in an indian population living in an area endemic for visceral leishmaniasis
url https://journals.plos.org/plosntds/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pntd.0001874&type=printable
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AT carmelbstober cytokineresponsestonovelantigensinanindianpopulationlivinginanareaendemicforvisceralleishmaniasis
AT abhishekkrsingh cytokineresponsestonovelantigensinanindianpopulationlivinginanareaendemicforvisceralleishmaniasis
AT jenefermblackwell cytokineresponsestonovelantigensinanindianpopulationlivinginanareaendemicforvisceralleishmaniasis
AT shyamsundar cytokineresponsestonovelantigensinanindianpopulationlivinginanareaendemicforvisceralleishmaniasis