Search results for "LEISHMANIASIS"
showing 10 items of 148 documents
Skin Dendritic Cells in Murine Cutaneous Leishmaniasis
2002
Studies of the immunopathogenesis of Leishmania major-induced murine cutaneous leishmaniasis provide a framework for understanding the evolution of L. major infection of skin in humans and the foundation for rationale vaccine design. Experiments in which infection is initiated with "suprap hysiologic" numbers of parasites clearly identify Th-derived type I cytokines as essential participants in macrophage activation and macrophage nitric oxide production as prerequisite for parasite control. Dendritic cells, rather than macrophages, appear to be responsible for L. major-specific Th priming in these studies. Recent studies of murine cutaneous leishmaniasis in a model system in which infectio…
Dendritic cell-derived IL-12p40 homodimer contributes to susceptibility in cutaneous leishmaniasis in BALB/c mice
2007
Abstract Protection against Leishmania major in resistant C57BL/6 mice is mediated by Th1 cells, whereas susceptibility in BALB/c mice is the result of Th2 development. IL-12 release by L. major-infected dendritic cells (DC) is critically involved in differentiation of Th1 cells. Previously, we reported that strain differences in the production of DC-derived factors, e.g., IL-1αβ, are in part responsible for disparate disease outcome. In the present study, we analyzed the release of IL-12 from DC in more detail. Stimulated DC from C57BL/6 and BALB/c mice released comparable amounts of IL-12p40 and p70. In the absence of IL-4, BALB/c DC produced significantly more IL-12p40 than C57BL/6 DC. D…
Localized leishmaniasis of the oral mucosa. A report of three cases
2007
El término leishmaniasis comprende un grupo de enfermedades causadas por diferentes especies de un protozoo llamado Leishmania. La leishmaniasis se produce en todo el mundo, considerándose endémica en 88 países. Existen tres formas clínicas principales de leishmaniasis: leishmaniasis visceral, leishmaniasis cutánea y leishmaniasis mucocutánea. La afectación de la mucosa, de manera exclusiva, por la Leishmania es muy rara. Presentamos una serie de tres casos de leishmaniasis mucosa localizados en la cavidad oral. El hecho de que todos los casos se produjeran en España, área endémica de L infantum, nos hace presuponer que éste fue el agente causal. La única manifestación de enfermedad de leis…
Leishmaniasis in travelers: A literature review.
2014
Leishmaniasis is a vector-borne protozoan infection whose clinical spectrum ranges from asymptomatic infection to fatal visceral leishmaniasis. Over the last decades, an increase in imported leishmaniasis cases in developed, non-endemic countries, have been pointed-out from a review of the international literature. Among the possible causes are increasing international tourism, influx of immigrants from endemic regions and military operations. The main area for the acquisition of cutaneous leishmaniasis, especially for adventure travelers on long-term trips in highly-endemic forested areas, is represented from South America, whereas popular Mediterranean destinations are emerging as the mai…
Mediterranean visceral leishmaniasis in immunocompetent children. Report of two cases relapsed after specific therapy
2004
Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is endemic in areas bordering the Mediterranean Sea (Spain, Italy, France, Greece, Morocco, Tunisia) where it is caused by Leishmania infantum and is transmitted by the bite of a hematophagous sandfly belonging to Phlebotomus spp.; the dog constitutes the main reservoir of infection. Two cases of VL in immunocompetent children are described. Both patients lived in endemic areas for leishmaniasis (Sicily) and at admission were febrile, pale and had splenomegaly. In both patients anti-leishmania antibodies were present and a definitive diagnosis was confirmed by demonstration of leishmania parasites by microscopy or polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in the bone marro…
Cutaneous Leishmania infection: progress in pathogenesis research and experimental therapy.
2007
Studies in murine experimental Leishmania major infection have helped to understand the requirements for efficient development of T helper (Th)1/cytotoxic T (Tc)1-mediated protection against the parasite. As such they have revealed that Fc gamma receptor (Fc gamma R)I and Fc gamma RIII-mediated uptake of L. major amastigotes by dendritic cells (DC) is an important prerequisite for Th1 development. In addition, DC-derived cytokines contribute to adequate T-cell education. DC-based vaccines may thus provide an important tool for both the development of a prophylactic vaccine against leishmaniasis and - together with leishmanicidal drugs - for eliciting immune-deviating functions towards prote…
Mucocutaneous Leishmaniasis Mimicking Squamous Cell Carcinoma
2019
Leishmaniasis is a parasitic infectious disease caused by protozoan species belonging to the [...]
In vitro evaluation of leishmanicidal properties of a new family of monodimensional coordination polymers based on diclofenac ligand
2020
Some series of isostructural chains with general formula [M(diclof)(HO)]·(EtOH) have been obtained from reaction between diclofenac ligand (diclof) and first row transition salts (M = Mn (1),Ni (2) and Co (3)). These monodimensional coordination polymers have been characterized and their crystal structures have been solved by X-ray diffraction methods, elucidating isostructural compounds that are chains with water molecules acting as bridge between different metallic centers, while diclofenac ligands are coordinated to the octahedral coordination environment of the same. Magnetic studies of these complexes have revealed the existence of moderate ferromagnetic interactions among manganese, n…
Leishmania tarentolae and Leishmania infantum in humans, dogs and cats in the Pelagie archipelago, southern Italy.
2021
Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) caused by Leishmania infantum is endemic in the Mediterranean basin with most of the infected human patients remaining asymptomatic. Recently, the saurian-associated Leishmania tarentolae was detected in human blood donors and in sheltered dogs. The circulation of L. infantum and L. tarentolae was investigated in humans, dogs and cats living in the Pelagie islands (Sicily, Italy) by multiple serological and molecular testing. Human serum samples (n = 346) were tested to assess the exposure to L. infantum by immunofluorescence antibody test (IFAT), enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and Western blot (WB) and to L. tarentolae by IFAT. Meanwhile, sera from do…
"Click" on PLGA-PEG and hyaluronic acid: gaining access to anti-leishmanial pentamidine bioconjugates
2018
Pentamidine (Pent), an antiparasitic drug used for the treatment of visceral leishmaniasis, has been modified with terminal azide groups and conjugated to two different polymer backbones (PLGA-PEG [PP] copolymer and hyaluronic acid [HA]) armed with alkyne end-groups. The conjugation has been performed by Copper Catalyzed Azido Alkyne Cycloaddition (CuAAC) using CuSO4/sodium ascorbate as metal source. The novel PP-Pent and HA-Pent bioconjugates are proposed, respectively, as non-targeted and targeted drug delivery systems against Leishmania infections. Moreover, Pent has been encapsulated into PP nanoparticles by the oil-in-water emulsion method, with the aim to compare the biological activi…