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This is RefScout-Newsletter 46/2004






REQUEST: [ leishmaniasis ]

(19 articles match this request. 1 article matching other requests removed)



PMID: 15529267
 

TITLE: Antibodies Directed Against O-Acetylated Sialoglycoconjugates Accelerate
Complement Activation in Leishmania donovani Promastigotes.

AUTHORS: Sumi Bandyopadhyay, Mitali Chatterjee, Tanusree Das, Suman
Bandyopadhyay, Shyam Sundar, Chitra Mandal

AFFILIATION: Immunobiology Division, Indian Institute of Chemical Biology,
Kolkata, India.

REFERENCE: J Infect Dis 2004 Dec 190(11):2010-9

Background. An enhanced presence of 9-O-acetylated sialoglycoconjugates
 (9-O-AcSGs) triggers the alternate pathway (AP) in Indian visceral 
leishmaniasis (VL). Antibodies directed against these epitopes are 
present in high titers. The biological relevance of these antibodies, 
with regard to activation of the classical pathway (CP), was 
investigated.Methods. Complement activators were affinity purified, 
complement activation via the CP, AP, and lectin-mediated complement 
pathway was measured by use of an anti-C3 radio-binding assay, and the 
number of C3 molecules was quantitated by Scatchard analysis. Cell death
 induced via the complement pathways was measured by use of MTT (
tetrazolium salt 3- [4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl] -2, 5-
diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay, and uptake of propidium iodide (PI) 
was measured by flow cytometry.Results. Anti-O-AcSGs from both healthy 
donors and patients with VL elicited C3 deposition as early as 3 min, 
which triggered parasite lysis, as demonstrated by use of MTT assay and 
corroborated by the high rate of uptake of PI. Analysis of complement 
activation by mannan-binding lectin and C-reactive protein demonstrated 
their negligible contribution during the 3-min time frame.Conclusions. 
Anti-O-AcSGs were identified as an important source of CP activation 
under normal physiological conditions, suggesting that they play a role 
in conferring host protection against parasite infection.








PMID: 15522675
 

TITLE: Mucosal leishmaniasis in an Indian AIDS patient.

AUTHORS: Sarman Singh

AFFILIATION: Head of the Division of Clinical Microbiology, All India Institute
of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.

REFERENCE: Lancet Infect Dis 2004 Nov 4(11):660-1




PMID: 15528722
 

TITLE: Quantification of Leishmania infantum DNA by a Real-Time PCR Assay with
High Sensitivity.

AUTHORS: Charles Mary, Françoise Faraut, Laurie Lascombe, Henri Dumon

AFFILIATION: Laboratoire de Parasitologie, Hopital de la Timone, 266 rue Saint
Pierre, 13385 Marseille, France. cmary at ap-hm.fr.

REFERENCE: J Clin Microbiol 2004 Nov 42(11):5249-55

A real-time PCR was developed to quantify Leishmania infantum 
kinetoplast DNA and optimized to reach a sensitivity of 0.0125 parasites
/ml of blood. In order to analyze the incidence of heterogeneity and 
number of minicircles, we performed comparative PCR by using the 
Leishmania DNA polymerase gene as a reporter. Assays performed in both 
promastigote and amastigote stages showed variations among different L. 
infantum and Leishmania donovani strains and the stability of the 
minicircle numbers for a particular strain. Analysis of blood samples 
from a patient who presented with Mediterranean visceral leishmaniasis 
confirmed the reliability of such an assay for Leishmania quantification
 in biological samples and allowed an estimation of positivity 
thresholds of classical tests used for direct diagnosis of the disease; 
positivity thresholds were in the range of 18 to 42, 0.7 to 42, and 0.12
 to 22.5 parasites/ml for microscopic examination, culture, and 
conventional PCR, respectively. At the time of diagnosis, parasitemia 
could vary by a wide range (32 to 188,700 parasites/ml, with a median of
 837 parasites/ml), while in bone marrow, parasite load was more than 
100 parasites per 10(6) nucleated human cells. After successful therapy
, parasitemia levels remain lower than 1 parasite/ml. In the 
immunocompromised host, relapses correlate with an increase in the level
 of parasitemia, sometimes scanty, justifying the need for assays with 
high sensitivity. Such sensitivity allows the detection of Leishmania 
DNA in the blood of 21% of patients with no history of leishmaniasis 
living in the Marseilles area, where leishmaniasis is endemic. This 
technique may be useful for epidemiologic and diagnostic purposes, 
especially for the quantification of parasitemia at low levels during 
posttherapy follow-up.




PMID: 15528735
 

TITLE: Convenience of serum for visceral leishmaniasis diagnosis by PCR.

AUTHORS: Cristel Fissore, Pascal Delaunay, Bernard Ferrua, Eric Rosenthal,
Pascal Del Giudice, Jean-Pierre Aufeuvre, Yves Le Fichoux, Pierre Marty

AFFILIATION: Laboratoire de Parasitologie-Mycologie, Centre Hospitalier
Universitaire, Hôpital de l'Archet, BP 3079, 06202 Nice Cedex 03, France.
fissore.c at chu-nice.fr.

REFERENCE: J Clin Microbiol 2004 Nov 42(11):5332-3

In this retrospective study, the usefulness of a PCR performed on serum 
for primary diagnosis and monitoring of Mediterranean visceral 
leishmaniasis (MVL) was assessed. In the case of primary diagnosis of 
MVL, the serum PCR showed a sensitivity of 97% and a specificity of 95
%, with positive and negative predictive values of 94 and 97%, 
respectively.




PMID: 15509428
 

TITLE: The sandflies (Diptera: Psychodidae) in the Turkish province of Hatay:
some possible vectors of the parasites causing human cutaneous leishmaniasis.

AUTHORS: M Yaman, Y Ozbel

AFFILIATION: Mustafa Kemal University, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine,
Department of Parasitology, 31040 - Antakya, Hatay, Turkey. myaman at mku.edu.tr

REFERENCE: Ann Trop Med Parasitol 2004 Oct 98(7):741-50

The province of Hatay, which lies on the Mediterranean coast in south-
eastern Turkey, forms an important endemic area for human cutaneous 
leishmaniasis (HCL). Between the June and November of 2001, the 
sandflies in eight areas of the province, Erzin, Dortyol, Iskenderun, 
Kirikhan, Antakya, Samandag, Altinozu and Yayladagi, were surveyed, 
using sticky-paper traps placed in goat, sheep, cow or chicken sheds 
close to houses. Although 217 of the 998 sandflies caught belonged to 
the genus Sergentomyia, the rest were of Phlebotomus species, including 
some species that, elsewhere, are known to act as vectors of the 
parasites causing HCL. The Sergentomyia caught were either S. theodori (
59.9%) or S. dentata (40.1%). Most of the Phlebotomus were P. sergenti (
60.8%) but P. papatasi (18.8%), P. syriacus (9.3%), P. neglectus (5.1
%), P. tobbi (2.7%), P. simici (2.2%), P. alexandri (0.9%) and P. 
kyreniae (0.1%) were also identified (the latter three species for the 
first time in Hatay province). The identification of the main vector 
species of sandfly in the province is complicated because it is still 
uncertain which Leishmania species cause(s) the local HCL. It seems 
likely, however, that P. sergenti is the main vector in Antakya, 
Iskenderun, Dortyol, Erzin and Kirikhan. In areas such as Altinozu and 
Yayladagi, where, although P. sergenti is very rare or absent, HCL cases
 still occur each year, other species, such as the relatively abundant P
. papatasi and P. syriacus, may be the main vectors.




PMID: 15470021
 

TITLE: Localization of marginal zone macrophages is regulated by C-C chemokine
ligands 21/19.

AUTHORS: Manabu Ato, Hideki Nakano, Terutaka Kakiuchi, Paul M Kaye

AFFILIATION: Department of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, London School of
Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK.

REFERENCE: J Immunol 2004 Oct 173(8):4815-20

The marginal zone (MZ) of the spleen is an important site for the 
capture of blood-borne pathogens and a gateway for lymphocytes entering 
the white pulp. We have recently reported that Leishmania donovani 
infection results in a remarkably selective loss of MZ macrophages (MZM
) from the MZ. To understand the basis of this observation, we have 
investigated how MZM maintain their anatomical distribution in the 
steady state in uninfected mice. We now report that plt/plt mice, which 
lack functional CCL19 and CCL21, have significantly reduced numbers of 
MZM compared with normal C57BL/6 (B6) mice. Similarly, in B6.CD45.1-->
plt/plt chimeras, donor-derived MZM were rare compared with the number 
observed in reciprocal plt/plt-->B6.CD45.1 chimeras. Moreover, we show 
that administration of pertussis toxin, an inhibitor of chemokine 
receptor signaling, to B6 mice results in exit of MZM from the MZ, that 
MZM can migrate in response to CCL19 and CCL21 in vitro, and that MZM 
colocalize with CD31+CCL21+ endothelial cells. Collectively, these data 
indicate that CCL21 and, to a lesser extent, CCL19 play significant 
roles in the distinctive localization of MZM within the splenic MZ. 
Deficiency of CCL19 and CCL21, as also previously observed in mice 
infected with L. donovani, may thus account for the selective loss of 
MZM seen during this infection.




PMID: 15521628
 

TITLE: Leishmania donovani is the only cause of visceral leishmaniasis in East
Africa; previous descriptions of L. infantum and "L. archibaldi" from this
region are a consequence of convergent evolution in the isoenzyme data.

AUTHORS: M B Jamjoom, R W Ashford, P A Bates, M L Chance, S J Kemp, P C Watts, H
A Noyes

AFFILIATION: Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Pembroke Place, Liverpool,
L3 5QA, UK.

REFERENCE: Parasitology 2004 Oct 129(Pt 4):399-409

Isoenzyme-based studies have identified 3 taxa/species/'phylogenetic 
complexes' as agents of visceral leishmaniasis in Sudan: L. donovani, L
. infantum and "L. archibaldi". However, these observations remain 
controversial. A new chitinase gene phylogeny was constructed in which 
stocks of all 3 putative species isolated in Sudan formed a monophyletic
 clade. In order to construct a more robust classification of the L. 
donovani complex, a panel of 16 microsatellite markers was used to 
describe 39 stocks of these 3 species. All "L. donovani complex" stocks 
from Sudan were again found to form a single monophyletic clade. L. 
donovani ss stocks from India and Kenya were found to form 2 region-
specific clades. The partial sequence of the glutamate oxaloacetate 
transaminase (GOT) gene of 17 L. donovani complex stocks was obtained. A
 single nucleotide polymorphism in the GOT gene appeared to underlie the
 isoenzyme classification. It was concluded that isoenzyme-based 
identification is unsafe for stocks isolated in L. donovani endemic 
areas and identified as L. infantum. It was also concluded that the name
 L. archibaldi is invalid and that only a single visceralizing species, 
Leishmania donovani, is found in East Africa.








PMID: 15509421
 

TITLE: Diagnosis of visceral leishmaniasis: the sensitivities and specificities
of traditional methods and a nested PCR assay.

AUTHORS: S Gatti, M Gramegna, C Klersy, S Madama, A Bruno, R Maserati, A M
Bernuzzi, C Cevini, M Scaglia

AFFILIATION: Laboratory of Parasitology, Virology Service, IRCCS Policlinico San
Matteo, Viale Taramelli, 5, 27100 Pavia, Italy. s.gatti at smatteo.pv.it

REFERENCE: Ann Trop Med Parasitol 2004 Oct 98(7):667-76

In the present study, 67 patients suspected to be cases of visceral 
leishmaniasis (VL) were each checked for leishmanial infection by the 
microscopical evaluation of various biological specimens, in-vitro 
culture, serology and an assay based on nested PCR. Most (35) of the 
subjects were immunocompetent (IC) but 32 were immunodeficient (ID) as 
the result of HIV infection (18 cases), treatment to prevent 
transplanted organs being rejected (six) or haematological malignancies
 (eight). Forty-one (61.2%) of the subjects (19 IC subjects, 12 HIV-
positive patients, four transplant patients and six patients with 
malignancies) were considered true cases of VL. For the IC subjects, 
only the production and microscopical examination of 
leucocytoconcentrates and cultures of Buffy coats gave sensitivities of
 <80%, the results of the other methods showing higher sensitivities
 and almost perfect agreement with the 'gold-standard' diagnoses. For 
the ID subjects, however, only the serological tests and the PCR gave 
reasonable sensitivities (of >80%). For the initial diagnosis of 
leishmaniasis in ID patients, IFAT and western blots may be useful, as, 
among the present ID patients, they gave sensitivities (of 80.9% and 88.
2%, respectively) that were almost as high as that for the PCR, and 
specificities of 100%. In the diagnosis of VL in either IC or ID 
patients, the assay based on a nested PCR appeared to be particularly 
reliable, with sensitivities of 88.9% and 95.2%, respectively, and a 
specificity of 100% in both groups of patients. The testing of bone-
marrow aspirates by PCR revealed very few VL cases who were not found 
positive when samples of their peripheral blood were checked in the same
 assay. For both IC and ID subjects therefore, the use of the PCR-based 
method to test samples of peripheral blood (which can be collected much 
more easily than bone-marrow aspirates and with much less pain for the 
subject) is recommended.




PMID: 15246317
 

TITLE: Presbytis entellus: a primate model for parasitic disease research.

AUTHORS: Anuradha Dube, Puvvada Kalpana Murthy, Sunil Kumar Puri, Shailja
Misra-Bhattacharya

REFERENCE: Trends Parasitol 2004 Aug 20(8):358-60




PMID: 15246321
 

TITLE: Programmed cell death in trypanosomatids: a way to maximize their
biological fitness?

AUTHORS: Paul A Nguewa, Miguel A Fuertes, Basilio Valladares, Carlos Alonso,
José M Pérez

AFFILIATION: Departamento de Parasitología, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad
de la Laguna, 38071 La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain.

REFERENCE: Trends Parasitol 2004 Aug 20(8):375-80

Programmed cell death (PCD) is a biochemical process that plays an 
essential role in the development of multicellular organisms. However, 
accumulating evidence indicates that PCD is also present in single-
celled eukaryotes. Thus, trypanosomatids might be endowed with a PCD 
mechanism that is derived from ancestral death machinery. PCD in 
trypanosomatids could be a process without a defined function, inherited
 through eukaryotic cell evolution, which might be triggered in response
 to diverse stimuli and stress conditions. However, recent observations 
suggest that PCD might be used by trypanosomatids to maximize their 
biological fitness. Therefore, PCD could represent a potential 
pharmacological target for protozoan control.




PMID: 15246322
 

TITLE: Topoisomerases of kinetoplastid parasites as potential chemotherapeutic
targets.

AUTHORS: Aditi Das, Arindam Dasgupta, Tanushri Sengupta, Hemanta K Majumder

AFFILIATION: Sealy Center for Molecular Sciences, University of Texas Medical
Branch at Galveston, Galveston, TX 77555, USA.

REFERENCE: Trends Parasitol 2004 Aug 20(8):381-7

The protozoan parasites Trypanosoma, Leishmania and Crithidia, which 
belong to the order kinetoplastidae, emerge from the most ancient 
eukaryotic lineages. The diversity found in the life cycle of these 
organisms must be directed by genetic events, wherein topoisomerases 
play an important role in cellular processes affecting the topology and 
organization of intracellular DNA. Topoisomerases are valuable as 
potential drug targets because they have indispensable function in cell 
biology. This review summarizes what is known about topoisomerase genes 
and proteins of kinetoplastid parasites and the roles of these enzymes 
as targets for therapeutic agents.




PMID: 15518175
 

TITLE: Adjunct effect of immunostimulating hexapeptide analogous to human
beta-casein fragment (54-59) to sodium stibogluconate against experimental
visceral leishmaniasis.

AUTHORS: Suman Gupta, V M L Srivastava, Anju Puri, D Pandey, W Haq

AFFILIATION: Division of Parasitology, Central Drug Research Institute, Lucknow,
India. gupta_suman at yahoo.com

REFERENCE: Immunopharmacol Immunotoxicol 2004 Aug 26(3):425-34

Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is a major public health problem in many 
tropical countries of the world. The available chemotherapeutics require
 parenteral administration and have other limitations like cost, 
toxicity, variable efficacy or restricted supplies. There is no 
effective treatment for immunosuppressed patients with leishmaniasis- 
HIV co-infection. Hence, new therapies, that are effective when 
treatment with the currently available drugs fails, must be developed. 
One of the major strategies for effective and safe treatment of 
leishmaniasis and other infectious diseases, in the last decade, 
involves the use of immunomodulators as adjunct to chemotherapy. In this
 context, we studied the immunomodulatory activity of a hexapeptide Val-
Glu-Pro-Ile-Gly-Tyr (CDRI compound 89-215) corresponding to (54-59) 
fragment of human beta-casein in mice and its efficacy in adjunct 
chemotherapy with SSG using L. donovani/hamster model. The hexapeptide 
was found to enhance both humoral and CMI responses. In animal model the
 hexapeptide per se showed no antileishmanial activity. However, when 
given alongwith suiboptimal dose of SSG, it enhanced the efficacy of SSG
 from 24% to 80%. The activity was very close to the efficacy (85%) 
recorded for curative dose of SSG. Adjunct chemotherapy with 
immunomodulator in visceral leishmaniasis appears to be a fruitful 
preposition.




PMID: 14762398
 

TITLE: Dissociation of disease susceptibility, inflammation and cytokine profile
in lmr1/2 congenic mice infected with Leishmania major.

AUTHORS: C Elso, B Kumar, G Smyth, S Foote, E Handman

AFFILIATION: The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, 1G Royal
Parade, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.

REFERENCE: Genes Immun 2004 May 5(3):188-96

Severity of disease caused by Leishmania major depends on the genetics 
of the host. Early induction of T helper cell type 1 (Th1)-type 
responses in resistant C57BL/6 mice and T helper cell type 2 (Th2) in 
susceptible BALB/c mice is thought to determine cure or disease 
respectively. We have mapped three loci that confer susceptibility or 
resistance upon congenic mice on the C57BL/6 or BALB/c backgrounds. Here
 we examine the histopathology and production of interleukin 4 (IL-4) 
and interferon gamma (IFN-gamma) in the skin and draining lymph nodes in
 the congenic and parental mice. We show an evolving granuloma with a 
staged infiltration of inflammatory cells, but no difference between the
 groups. As an indication of an early-polarised Th1/Th2 response we 
measured IFN-gamma and IL-4 in the lymph nodes and found no difference 
between any of the mice during the first 48 h. During infection, the 
level of IL-4 correlated with the lesion size, indicating that IL-4 
reflects the disease severity rather than controls it. Considering this 
effect, B6.C(lmr1,lmr2) mice had similar cytokine levels to the parental
 C57BL/6 mice despite increased susceptibility and C.B6(lmr1,lmr2) were 
similar to BALB/c despite increased resistance. We conclude that the lmr
 loci affect disease severity by a mechanism independent of conventional
 helper T-cell responses.




PMID: 15504537
 

TITLE: Canine leishmaniasis.

AUTHORS: Jorge Alvar, Carmen Cañavate, Ricardo Molina, Javier Moreno, Javier
Nieto

AFFILIATION: WHO Collaborating Centre for Leishmaniasis, Servicio de
Parasitología, Centro Nacional de Microbiología, Instituto de Salud Carlos
III, 28220-Majadahonda, Madrid, Spain. jalvar at isciii.es

REFERENCE: Adv Parasitol 2004  57():1-88

Canine leishmaniasis is caused by Leishmania infantum (syn. L. chagasi, 
in America) and is transmitted by the bite of phlebotomine sand flies. 
Infected dogs constitute the main domestic reservoir of the parasite and
 play a key role in transmission to humans, in which the parasite 
produces visceral leishmaniasis. The increasing awareness that control 
of the human disease depends on effective control of canine 
leishmaniasis has promoted, in the last few years, research into 
leishmanial infection in dogs. Newly available specific reagents and 
molecular tools have been applied to the detailed investigation of 
canine leishmaniasis and important advances have been made in 
elucidating the epidemiology and pathology of the disease. These new 
findings have led to better understanding of the disease, and have also 
helped in the development of new diagnostic methods and control measures
 against the infection, such as insecticide-impregnated collars for dogs
, new drugs and treatment protocols, and second generation vaccines, 
with the hope of not only reducing the heavy burden of the disease among
 dogs but also reducing the incidence of human visceral leishmaniasis.








PMID: 15530296
 

TITLE: Childhood leishmaniasis: Report of 106 cases.

AUTHORS: Monia Kharfi, Rym Benmously, Nadia El Fekih, Meriem Daoud, Zohra
Fitouri, Incaf Mokhtar, Saida Ben Becher, Mohamed Ridha Kamoun

AFFILIATION: Dermatology Department, Charles Nicolle Hospital, Dermatology
Department, Habib Thameur Hospital, and Pediatric Department, Childrens
Hospital, Tunis, Tunisia. monia.kharfi at rns.tn.

REFERENCE: Dermatol Online J 2004  10(2):6

In Tunisia there are three epidemic clinical forms of cutaneous 
leishmaniasis. They are associated with three different species of 
Leishmania and are observed in different geographical areas. We 
undertook a single-center retrospective analysis of childhood 
leishmaniasis in order to describe epidemio-clinical profile, 
therapeutic characteristics and clinical outcomes of affected patients. 
The study comprises 166 children with 132 lesions of cutaneous 
leishmaniasis. The subjects ages range from 5 months to 15 years (
average 8.75 years). The F:M sex ratio is 1.3. Leishmaniasis affects 
grown-up children in 74.5 percent of the cases. All of our patients live
 in an endemic area. The face is affected in 76.5 percent of cases. 
Mucosal leishmaniasis is present in 9 children (6.8 %). Clinical 
diagnosisis confirmed by the parasitologic smear or hispathological 
examination in 89.6 percent of the cases. Treatment with intralesional 
meglumine antimoniate is done for 67 patients; the treatment regimen is 
one local injection (1 ml/cm(2)) per week until recovery. Systemic 
meglumine antimoniate is the initial therapy for 25 patients. Meglumine 
antimoniate treatment is well tolerated with no side-effects. All 
leishmaniasis lesions heal within an average period of 2.18 months. 
Childhood cutaneous leishmaniais is common in Tunisia. It has the 
characteristics of sporadic leishmaniasis. Mucosal leishmaniasis has a 
favorable outcome with no destruction, nor scaring defomity. The 
standard treatment remains intralesional meglumine antimoniate.




PMID: 15530311
 

TITLE: Ulcerated disseminated cutaneous leishmaniasis associated with vitiligo,
hypothyroidism, and diabetes mellitus in a patient with Down syndrome.

AUTHORS: Shahin Aghaei, Rahmat Salmanpour, Farhad Handjani, Ahmad Monabati,
Nazila Mazharinia, Ladan Dastgheib

AFFILIATION: Department of Dermatology, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences,
Shiraz, Iran. shahinaghaei at yahoo.com.

REFERENCE: Dermatol Online J 2004  10(2):21

We report a 35-year-old man who was referred to our dermatology 
department with multiple, nodular, ulcerated, and crusted lesions 
disseminated on the face, trunk, and extremities. He has a known 
diagnosis of Down syndrome. The past medical history also included 
vitiligo (for 20 years), hypothyroidism (for 2 years), and type-II 
diabetes mellitus (for 3 months). Direct smear of an ulcer was positive 
for leishmania. Skin biopsy confirmed the diagnosis. A leishmanin skin 
test was negative. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) from two separate 
skin biopsies demonstrated the presence of Leishmania major. To our 
knowledge, this is the first report of disseminated cutaneous 
leishmaniasis (DCL) caused by L. major in Iran, and also the first 
report of association between DCL with Down syndrome, vitiligo, 
hypothyroidism, and diabetes mellitus.




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 The following references are revised files and are brought to you in accordance
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PMID: 12174795
 

TITLE: Field agglutination test for anti-Leishmania antibodies.

AUTHORS: Subhash C Arya

REFERENCE: Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg 2002 May-Jun 96(3):352; author reply 352




PMID: 11579883
 

TITLE: A fast agglutination screening test (FAST) for the detection of
anti-Leishmania antibodies.

AUTHORS: G J Schoone, A Hailu, C C Kroon, J L Nieuwenhuys, H D Schallig, L
Oskam

AFFILIATION: Department of Biomedical Research, Royal Tropical Institute,
Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

REFERENCE: Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg 2001 Jul-Aug 95(4):400-1




REQUEST: [ leishmania ]

(24 articles match this request. 14 articles matching other requests removed)



PMID: 15522093
 

TITLE: Intracellular Membrane Transport Systems in Trypanosoma brucei.

AUTHORS: Mark C Field, Mark Carrington

AFFILIATION: Department of Biological Sciences, Imperial College, London, UK
Department of Biochemistry, Tennis Court Road, University of Cambridge,
Cambridge, UK.

REFERENCE: Traffic 2004 Dec 5(12):905-13

Trypanosomes belong to the order kinetoplastida, an early diverging 
group of organisms in the eukaryotic lineage. The principal reasons for 
interest in these organisms are twofold; they provide a superb distant 
triangulation point from which to assess global features of eukaryotic 
biology and, more importantly, they are representative of a number of 
pathogenic parasitic protozoa with a huge public health impact -
Trypanosoma brucei, T. cruzi and Leishmania spp. Recent advances in the 
study of intracellular transport in T. brucei have been considerable, 
and a fuller picture of the complexity, function and role that the 
endomembrane system plays in trypanosomes is finally emerging.




PMID: 15522240
 

TITLE: Novel motifs in amino acid permease genes from Leishmania.

AUTHORS: Martin Akerman, Pninit Shaked-Mishan, Salam Mazareb, Hanne Volpin, Dan
Zilberstein

AFFILIATION: Department of Biology, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology,
Haifa 32000, Israel.

REFERENCE: Biochem Biophys Res Commun 2004 Dec 325(1):353-66

Eight amino acid permease genes from the protozoan parasite Leishmania 
donovani (AAPLDs) were cloned, sequenced, and shown to be expressed in 
promastigotes. Seven of these belong to the amino acid transporter-1 and
 one to the amino acid polyamino-choline superfamilies. Using these 
sequences as well as known and characterized amino acid permease genes 
from all kingdoms, a training set was established and used to search for
 motifs, using the MEME motif discovery tool. This study revealed two 
motifs that are specific to the genus Leishmania, four to the family 
trypanosomatidae, and a single motif that is common between 
trypanosomatidae and mammalian systems A1 and N. Interestingly, most of 
these motifs are clustered in two regions of 50-60 amino acids. Blast 
search analyses indicated a close relationship between the L. donovani 
and Trypanosoma brucei amino acid permeases. The results of this work 
describe the cloning of the first amino acid permease genes in parasitic
 protozoa and contribute to the understanding of amino acid permease 
evolution in these organisms. Furthermore, the identification of genus-
specific motifs in these proteins might be useful to better understand 
parasite physiology within its hosts.




PMID: 15358681
 

TITLE: Migration of antigen presenting cells from periphery to the peritoneum
during an inflammatory response: role of chemokines and cytokines.

AUTHORS: Roshni Mitra, Nilesh Dharajiya, Leela Kumari, Chavvakula Varalakshmi,
Ashok Khar

AFFILIATION: khar at ccmb.res.in.

REFERENCE: FASEB J 2004 Nov 18(14):1764-6

We demonstrate the migration of antigen presenting cells (APCs), 
macrophages, and dendritic cells from the subcutaneous site to the 
peritoneum after they have picked up the antigen, using cell tracking 
dye. The migration of the APCs is more universal as it was also observed
 after injection of MethA tumor, DH-5alpha cells, and leishmania 
parasites, in addition to AK-5 tumor cells. Cellular migration is 
mediated by several chemokines and cytokines that also induce heavy 
influx of immune cells into the peritoneum. MIP-3beta secreted by the 
mesothelial cells is involved in the cellular influx into the peritoneum
, whereas IL-12 and IFN-gamma produced by the APCs induced activation of
 immune cells in the peritoneum. Our results suggest an antigen 
presentation function for the APCs in the peritoneum as studied by 
lymphoproliferation assays. These studies indicate antigen presentation 
function of the activated migratory APCs from the distant subcutaneous 
site to the peritoneum, suggesting it acts as an important lymphoid 
organ involved in the enhancement of effector cell function.








PMID: 15531044
 

TITLE: Life-long systemic protection in mice vaccinated with L. major and
adenovirus IL-12 vector requires active infection, macrophages and intact lymph
nodes.

AUTHORS: Claudia Raja Gabaglia, Eli E Sercarz, Yaiza Diaz-De-Durana, Mary Hitt,
Frank L Graham, Jack Gauldie, Todd A Braciak

AFFILIATION: Division of Immune Regulation, Torrey Pines Institute for Molecular
Studies (TPIMS), 3550 General Atomics Court, San Diego, CA 92121, USA.

REFERENCE: Vaccine 2004 Nov 23(2):247-57

Immunization with soluble leishmanial antigen (SLA) in IFA plus Ad5IL-12
 vector induced protection confined to the immunized footpad in BALB/c 
mice. However, animals that controlled a primary infection with a 
Leishmania major challenge in the same immunized footpad, became 
resistant to subsequent contralateral rechallenges due to expansion of 
IFN-gamma secreting cells. This systemic immunity could be disrupted 
either by macrophage depletion during immunization or by lymphadenectomy
 after challenge. We show that this procedure does not interfere with 
tissue-compartmentalized protection, since lymphadenectomized and 
splenectomized animals were resistant to rechallenges performed in the 
immunized footpads. Our results indicate that SLA-Ad5IL-12 vector 
priming requires macrophages to generate systemic protection. 
Furthermore, a previously undescribed lymphoid organ-independent, 
protective immune response is contained within the tissue 
microenvironment of the immunized/challenged footpad. These results have
 important implications for vaccine design against leishmanial and 
mycobacterial infections and diseases caused by intracellular pathogens.




PMID: 15509422
 

TITLE: Identification of Leishmania strains from Jordan.

AUTHORS: E K Saliba, F Pratlong, J P Dedet, N Saleh, S A Khoury, O Y Oumeish, O
Batayneh, R Al-Oran

AFFILIATION: Department of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering, Philadelphia
University, P.O. Box 1, Amman, 19392, Jordan. salibaek at go.com.jo

REFERENCE: Ann Trop Med Parasitol 2004 Oct 98(7):677-83

The enzymatic profiles of 22 Jordanian Leishmania isolates obtained from
 humans, Psammomys obesus and Phlebotomus papatasi were determined using
 starch-gel electrophoresis and a 15-enzyme system. Thirteen of the 
isolates were typed as L. major and the other nine, all from 
Mediterranean or sub-Mediterranean regions, as L. tropica. The two 
zymodemes of L. major encountered, MON-26 and MON-103, differed in terms
 of purine nucleoside phosphorylase 2. The MON-26 isolates came from the
 Jordanian plateau whereas those of MON-103 were only collected from the
 Jordan valley. The four zymodemes of L. tropica observed (MON-7, MON-
137, MON-200 and MON-265) were identical for only two of the 15 enzymes 
studied (i.e. isocitrate dehydrogenase and glucose phosphate isomerase
), confirming the high level of enzymatic polymorphism of L. tropica. So
 far, MON-200 and MON-265 have only been found in Jordan.




PMID: 15525435
 

TITLE: New Approaches to the Microscopic Imaging of Trypanosoma brucei.

AUTHORS: Mark C Field, Clare L Allen, Vivek Dhir, David Goulding, Belinda S
Hall, Gareth W Morgan, Paul Veazey, Markus Engstler

AFFILIATION: Wellcome Trust Laboratories for Molecular Parasitology, Department
of Biological Sciences, Imperial College, Exhibition Road, London SW7 2AY, UK.

REFERENCE: Microsc Microanal 2004 Oct 10(5):621-36

Protozoan parasites are fearsome pathogens responsible for a substantial
 proportion of human mortality, morbidity, and economic hardship. The 
principal disease agents are members of the orders Apicomplexa (
Plasmodium, Toxoplasma, Eimeria) and Kinetoplastida (Trypanosomes, 
Leishmania). The majority of humans are at risk from infection from one 
or more of these organisms, with profound effects on the economy, social
 structure and quality of life in endemic areas; Plasmodium itself 
accounts for over one million deaths per annum, and an estimated 4 x 107
 disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), whereas the Kinetoplastida are 
responsible for over 100,000 deaths per annum and 4 x 106 DALYs. Current
 control strategies are failing due to drug resistance and inadequate 
implementation of existing public health strategies. Trypanosoma brucei
, the African Trypanosome, has emerged as a favored model system for the
 study of basic cell biology in Kinetoplastida, because of several 
recent technical advances (transfection, inducible expression systems, 
and RNA interference), and these advantages, together with genome 
sequencing efforts are widely anticipated to provide new strategies of 
therapeutic intervention. Here we describe a suite of methods that have 
been developed for the microscopic analysis of T. brucei at the light 
and ultrastructural levels, an essential component of analysis of gene 
function and hence identification of therapeutic targets.




PMID: 15525438
 

TITLE: Contribution of electron and confocal microscopy in the study of
leishmania-macrophage interactions.

AUTHORS: Birgitta Rasmusson, Albert Descoteaux

AFFILIATION: Division of Medical Microbiology, Department of Molecular and
Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Linköping University, S-581 85
Linköping, Sweden.

REFERENCE: Microsc Microanal 2004 Oct 10(5):656-61

Promastigotes of the protozoan parasite genus Leishmania are inoculated 
into a mammalian host when an infected sand fly takes a bloodmeal. 
Following their opsonization by complement, promastigotes are 
phagocytosed by macrophages. There, promastigotes differentiate into 
amastigotes, the form of the parasite that replicates in the 
phagolysosomal compartments of host macrophages. Although the mechanisms
 by which promastigotes survive the microbicidal consequence of 
phagocytosis remain, for the most part, to be elucidated, evidence 
indicates that glycoconjugates play a role in this process. One such 
glycoconjugate is lipophosphoglycan, an abundant promastigote surface 
glycolipid. Using quantitative electron and confocal laser scanning 
microscopy approaches, evidence was provided that L. donovani 
promastigotes inhibit phagolysosome biogenesis in a lipophosphoglycan-
dependent manner. This inhibition correlates with an accumulation of 
periphagosomal F-actin, which may potentially form a physical barrier 
that prevents L. donovani promastigote-containing phagosomes from 
interacting with endocytic vacuoles. Inhibition of phagosome maturation 
may constitute a strategy to provide an environment propitious to the 
promastigote-to-amastigote differentiation.




PMID: 15511274
 

TITLE: Ginseng modulates the immune response by induction of interleukin-12
production.

AUTHORS: Maria Waldorff Larsen, Claus Moser, Niels Høiby, Zhijun Song, Arsalan
Kharazmi

AFFILIATION: Department of Clinical Microbiology, University Hospital
(Rigshospitalet), afsnit 7602, Copenhagen, Denmark.

REFERENCE: APMIS 2004 Jun 112(6):369-73

In infections with intracellular microorganisms such as mycobacteria and
 Leishmania parasites as well as certain extracellular chronic 
infections such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa a Th1 response with activation
 of macrophages is desirable. Several studies indicate that such a 
response is associated with better recovery from infection, improved 
course of the chronic infection, and higher survival rate. In Th1 
responses there is increased interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) and 
interleukin-12 (IL-12) production, whereas that of interleukin-10 (IL-10
) is decreased. The present study indicated that Ginseng modulation of 
stimulated peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) results in a higher
 IL-12 production. The enhanced IL-12 production could induce a stronger
 Th1 response, resulting in better protection against infection with a 
variety of pathogens.




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********************************************************************************************************************


PMID: 8594423
 

TITLE: Partial purification and characterization of a soluble protein
phosphatase from Leishmania donovani promastigotes.

AUTHORS: S Nandi, D Sarkar

AFFILIATION: Department of Cell Biology, Indian Institute of Chemical Biology,
Calcutta, India.

REFERENCE: Mol Cell Biochem 1995 Jul 148(2):191-8

A soluble protein phosphatase from the promastigote form of the 
parasitic protozoan Leishmania donovani was partially purified using 
Sephadex G-100, DEAE-cellulose and again Sephadex G-100 columns. The 
partially purified enzyme showed a native molecular weight of about 42,
000 in both Sephadex G-100 and sucrose density gradient centrifugation. 
The sedimentation constant, stokes radius and frictional ratio were 
found to be 3.43S, 2.8 nm and 1.20 respectively. The enzyme 
preferentially utilized phosphohistone as the best exogenous substrate. 
Mg2+ ions were essential for enzyme activity; among other metal ions Mn2
+ can replace Mg2+ to a certain extent whereas Ca2+, Co2+ and Zn2+ could
 not substitute for Mg2+. The pH optimum of the enzyme was 6.5-7.5 and 
the temperature optimum 37 degrees C. The apparent Km for phosphohistone
 was 7.14 microM. ATP, ADP, inorganic phosphate and pyrophosphate had 
inhibitory effect on the enzyme activity whereas no inhibition was 
observed with sodium tartrate and okadaic acid. These results suggest 
that L. donovani promastigotes possess a protein phosphatase which has 
similar characteristics with the mammalian protein phosphatase 2C.




PMID: 7806499
 

TITLE: A membrane-bound protein phosphatase type 2C from Paramecium tetraurelia.
Purification, characterization, and cloning.

AUTHORS: S Klumpp, C Hanke, A Donella-Deana, A Beyer, R Kellner, L A Pinna, J E
Schultz

AFFILIATION: Faculty of Chemistry and Pharmacy, Universität Tübingen,
Germany.

REFERENCE: J Biol Chem 1994 Dec 269(52):32774-80

We isolated the first membrane-bound type 2C serine/threonine protein 
phosphatase from the ciliated protozoan Paramecium tetraurelia (PtPP2C
). Three isozymes of 33, 32, and 31 kDa with a specific activity of 1 
mumol.min-1.mg1 were purified from the ciliary membrane. All enzymatic 
properties including (a) insensitivity toward inhibitors of other 
protein phosphatase families such as okadaic acid and microcystin, (b) 
absolute requirement for divalent cations, and (c) substrate specificity
 tested with synthetic phosphopeptides were identical to mammalian PP2C 
enzymes and identified the PtPP2C as a canonical PP2C in spite of it 
being about 25% smaller. The NH2-terminal was blocked. Microsequencing 
of six tryptic peptides established a relationship to other PP2C enzymes
. The PtPP2C gene was obtained using degenerate oligonucleotide primers 
and the polymerase chain reaction. The gene coded for a 33-kDa protein 
with 300 amino acids and had an (A+T) content of 62%, typical for this 
protozoan. Nine of 15 Gln residues are encoded by TAA, a universal stop 
codon which codes for Gln in Paramecium. A large truncation at the COOH-
terminal is responsible for the smaller size of the PtPP2C. Only a 
single transcript of 1 kilobase was detected with a Northern blot 
indicating that the 32- and 31-kDa proteins were proteolytic products of
 the 33-kDa enzyme. Sequence comparisons with PP2C enzymes from rat, 
rabbit, yeast, Arabidopsis, and Leishmania defined a highly diverged 
enzyme family which shares three conserved domains, I, II, and III, 
accounting for about 25% of the primary structure. We demonstrated 
further that the distances between domains I/II and II/III are very 
similar in all PP2C enzymes (9-13 and 74-80 amino acids, respectively). 
However, the amino acid sequences of the spacer regions are unrelated. 
In addition, the COOH-terminal ends of 100-200 amino acids which 
comprise 30-50% of the enzyme, display no identity. A dendrogramm shows 
that PtPP2C surprisingly is most closely related to the mammalian PP2C, 
and enzymes from Leishmania, Arabidopsis, and yeast are more distant 
relatives.




REQUEST: [ sand fly ]

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REQUEST: [ sandfly ]

(1 article matches this request. 1 article matching other requests removed)














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