[Leish-l] Fwd: Articles found by RefScout 9/2007

[Jeffrey Shaw]

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Date: Wed, 28 Feb 2007 02:19:11
Subject: Articles found by RefScout for your requests



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  This is RefScout-Newsletter 9/2007.

  REQUEST: [ leishmania ]
(41 articles match this request)

PMID: 17229590<http://refscout.com/cgi-bin/exportAbstract.pl?base=medline-2007-09.xml&id=17229590>
TITLE: Changing views on Langerhans cell functions in
leishmaniasis.<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=17229590>
AUTHORS: Javier Moreno
AFFILIATION: Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas, Consejo Superior de
Investigaciones Científicas, Ramiro de Maeztu 9, 28040-Madrid, Spain.
REFERENCE: Trends Parasitol 2007 Mar 23(3):86-8
The different functions of skin dendritic cell subsets during
*Leishmania*infection were recently reviewed by Ritter and Osterloh.
In their article,
they propose a new role for epidermal Langerhans cells and dermal dendritic
cells to explain the events that take place after inoculation by *Leishmania
*.


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PMID: 17207663<http://refscout.com/cgi-bin/exportAbstract.pl?base=medline-2007-09.xml&id=17207663>
TITLE: Sand flies and *Leishmania*: specific versus permissive
vectors.<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=17207663>
AUTHORS: Petr Volf, Jitka Myskova
AFFILIATION: Department of Parasitology, Charles University, Vinicna 7,
Prague 2, 128 44, Czech Republic.
REFERENCE: Trends Parasitol 2007 Mar 23(3):91-2


PMID: 17110042<http://refscout.com/cgi-bin/exportAbstract.pl?base=medline-2007-09.xml&id=17110042>
TITLE: Characterization of circulating lymphocyte subpopulations in canine
leishmaniasis throughout treatment with antimonials and
allopurinol.<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=17110042>
AUTHORS: Sonia Miranda, Susanna Martorell, Manuela Costa, Lluis Ferrer,
Antonio Ramis
AFFILIATION: Departament de Medicina i Cirurgia Animals, Universitat
Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain.
REFERENCE: Vet Parasitol 2007 Mar 144(3-4):251-60
Canine leishmaniasis (CL) is a systemic parasitic disease with a wide
variability of response to specific therapy: the majority of patients
apparently improve with treatment, some of them respond but later relapse,
and few of them do not respond at all. It has been demonstrated that the
immune response plays a key role in the development and outcome of *
Leishmania* infection in the dog and in the response to the treatment,
although this response is not well understood. Some authors have suggested
that ill dogs show a reduction in the percentage of circulating CD4+
lymphocytes and in the CD4+/CD8+ ratio, both of which normalize after
treatment and clinical recovery. The present paper discusses the variation
of the different lymphocyte subpopulations (CD3 , CD4, CD8, CD21) of
peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) in 28 dogs diagnosed with CL and
submitted to conventional treatment with meglumine antimoniate
(Glucantime((R))) for 1 month and with allopurinol (Zyloric((R))) for 1
year, in order to evaluate the usefulness of these parameters as indicators
of the immunological condition of the ill animals and of the prognosis of
their evolution during the treatment. It is concluded that circulating
lymphocyte subpopulations are similar in dogs with leishmaniasis and in
healthy dogs and that there is no correlation between the clinical status or
response to therapy and the values of the counts of the different lymphocyte
subpopulations. Therefore, the percentage of different lymphocyte
subpopulations cannot be used as a parameter to predict the evolution of an
individual patient in a clinical context.


PMID: 17258860<http://refscout.com/cgi-bin/exportAbstract.pl?base=medline-2007-09.xml&id=17258860>
TITLE: Efficacy of a combination of 10% imidacloprid/50% permethrin for the
prevention of leishmaniasis in kennelled dogs in an endemic
area.<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=17258860>
AUTHORS: Domenico Otranto, Paola Paradies, Riccardo Paolo Lia, Maria
Stefania Latrofa, Gabriella Testini, Cinzia Cantacessi, Norbert Mencke,
Gianluca Galli, Gioia Capelli, Dorothee Stanneck
AFFILIATION: Department of Animal Health and Welfare, Faculty of Veterinary
Medicine, University of Bari, Str. Prov. per Casamassima Km3, 70010
Valenzano (Bari), Italy.
REFERENCE: Vet Parasitol 2007 Mar 144(3-4):270-8
The efficacy of imidacloprid 10% and permethrin 50% (Advantix((R)); Bayer
AG, Germany) in a spot-on formulation was evaluated in the field as a
control measure to prevent canine leishmaniasis (CanL) in dogs in an endemic
area of southern Italy. In February 2005, out of 845 dogs initially tested
for CanL, 631 dogs which tested negative (315 from a kennel in Bari (KB) and
316 from a kennel in Ginosa (KG)) in a serological and a parasitological
examination were allocated to one of three groups: Group A-treated with
imidacloprid 10% and permethrin 50% once a month; Group B-treated every 2
weeks; and Group C-untreated control animals. All the dogs were examined
serologically and parasitologically for CanL prior to the start of the
study, in November 2005 (end of the sandfly season) and in March 2006 (end
of the study). An initial CanL seroprevalence of 24.7% (209 dogs) was
detected in KB and KG. In KB *Leishmania* infection, inferred by positivity
in at least one of the three tests performed at the interim or final
follow-up, was found in one animal from Group A and in nine from Group C. No
positive animals were detected in Group B, thus giving a final protection
efficacy of 88.9% in Group A and 100% in Group B. In KG
*Leishmania*infection was identified in one animal from Groups A and
B, respectively ,
and 11 from Group C (protection efficacy of 90.36% in Group A and 90. 73% in
Group B). The incidence density rates (IDRs) of infection in both Groups A
and B at each kennel were statistically significantly lower than that
registered in Group C (KB p<0.05 and KG p<0.01). The results clearly show
that a combination of imidacloprid 10% and permethrin 50%, by virtue of its
repellent activity against sandflies, is effective under both application
regimes in preventing CanL in the field in endemic areas.


PMID: 17169604<http://refscout.com/cgi-bin/exportAbstract.pl?base=medline-2007-09.xml&id=17169604>
TITLE: Possibility of membrane modification as a mechanism of antimony
resistance in *Leishmania*
donovani.<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=17169604>
AUTHORS: Hema Kothari, Pranav Kumar, Shyam Sundar, Neeloo Singh
AFFILIATION: Drug Target Discovery and Development Division, Central Drug
Research Institute, Lucknow, India.
REFERENCE: Parasitol Int 2007 Mar 56(1):77-80
Resistance to antimonials has become a clinical threat in the treatment of
visceral leishmaniasis (VL). Unravelling the resistance mechanism needs
attention to circumvent the problem of drug resistance. In one of the
resistant isolates, we earlier identified a gene (PG1) implicated in
antimony resistance whose localization in the present study was confirmed on
the pellicular plasma membrane of the parasite thereby indicating towards
membrane modification as a mechanism of resistance in this resistant
isolate.


PMID: 17079188<http://refscout.com/cgi-bin/exportAbstract.pl?base=medline-2007-09.xml&id=17079188>
TITLE: Advances and perspectives in *Leishmania* cell based drug-screening
procedures.<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=17079188>
AUTHORS: D Sereno, A Cordeiro da Silva, F Mathieu-Daude, A Ouaissi
AFFILIATION: IRD, UR008 "PathogÃ(c)nie des TrypanosomatidÃ(c)s", 911 Avenue
Agropolis, BP 64501, 34394 Montpellier Cedex 5, France.
REFERENCE: Parasitol Int 2007 Mar 56(1):3-7
Efforts for the development of new therapeutics, essential for the control
of leishmaniasis rely mainly on screening of potentially effective compounds
in pathogen growth/multiplication assays, both in vitro and in vivo.
Screenings designed to closely reflect the situation in vivo are currently
labor-intensive and expensive, since they require intracellular amastigotes
and animal models. Screenings designed to facilitate rapid testing of a
large number of drugs are not performed on the clinically relevant parasite
stage, but the promastigotes. The ability to select transgenic
*Leishmania*expressing reporter proteins, such as the green
fluorescent protein (GFP) or
the luciferase, opened up new possibilities for the development of drug
screening tests. In this review we will focus on available methodologies for
direct drug screening purposes against the mammalian stage of the parasite,
with emphasis on the future developments that could improve sensitivity,
reliability, versatility and the throughput of the intracellular model
screening.


PMID: 17316499<http://refscout.com/cgi-bin/exportAbstract.pl?base=medline-2007-09.xml&id=17316499>
TITLE: The effects of induced diabetes and cutaneous *Leishmania* infection
on the pharmacokinetics of antimony in
hamsters.<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=17316499>
AUTHORS: M A Radwan, M H Al Jaser, Z R Al Rayes
AFFILIATION: Department of Clinical Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, King Saud
University, P.O. Box 22452, Riyadh 11495, Saudi Arabia.
REFERENCE: Ann Trop Med Parasitol 2007 Mar 101(2):133-42
Patients with certain diseases appear to be at greater risk of developing
adverse drug interactions, either because of the disease state itself or the
drugs used to treat it. The effects of streptozotocin-induced diabetes
and/or cutaneous *Leishmania* major infection on the pharmacokinetics of
antimony (Sb(V)) have now been investigated, in hamsters treated with sodium
stibogluconate (Pentostam ). The animals were randomly divided into five
groups, each of 20 hamsters, known as D (for diabetes without
leishmaniasis), DL (diabetes induced prior to the leishmaniasis), L
(leishmaniasis without diabetes ), LD (diabetes induced after leishmanial
infection) and C (the control group, of animals with neither diabetes nor
leishmaniasis). After its diabetes and/or leishmaniasis (if any) was
established, each animal was given an intramuscular dose of sodium
stibogluconate (80 mg/kg) each day for 3 weeks. Blood samples were collected
after the first or last doses , to allow the pharmacokinetic parameters of
Sb(V) after single and multiple dosing to be compared. Although the
between-dose interval (24 h ) was more than 10 times longer than the
terminal elimination rate constant (t((1/2))) at steady state, there was a
significant increase in the mean peak Sb(V) concentration (C(max)), as the
result of multiple dosing, in all five groups (P<0.001 for each). The
hamsters with diabetes showed the least accumulation of Sb(V) in their
blood, whether or not they were infected with L. major. In the non-diabetic
animals of groups L and C, the apparent total clearance of Sb(V) (CL/F) was
decreased by multiple dosing, being, respectively, 34.5% and 23.0% lower
after the 21st dose than after the first. An increase in urine volume was
the reason for the significant increase in CL/F in group D (P<0. 001), and
this offset the decrease in CL/F seen in the L group, resulting in no change
in CL/F in the animals of the DL group. Three weeks of antileishmanial
treatment produced no significant reductions in the leishmanial lesions on
the parasite-inoculated foot-pads of the hamsters in the L or DL groups but
such reductions were detected in the animals of the LD group (P<0.001). In
conclusion, it appears that the administration of Sb(V) over a few weeks may
cause renal toxicity and, in clinical use, should therefore be accompanied
by the regular monitoring of renal function. A cautious increase in Sb(V)
dosing may be necessary for the effective treatment of L. major (and perhaps
other species of *Leishmania*) in diabetic patients.


PMID: 17077330<http://refscout.com/cgi-bin/exportAbstract.pl?base=medline-2007-09.xml&id=17077330>
TITLE: IL-21 receptor signaling is integral to the development of Th2
effector responses in
vivo.<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=17077330>
AUTHORS: Anja Fröhlich, Benjamin J Marsland, Ivo Sonderegger, Michael
Kurrer, Martin R Hodge, Nicola L Harris, Manfred Kopf
REFERENCE: Blood 2007 Mar 109(5):2023-31
Interleukin 21 (IL-21) is a member of the common gamma-chain family of
cytokines, which influence a broad spectrum of immunologic responses. A
number of studies have examined the function of IL-21, but its specific role
in Th1/Th2-cell differentiation and related effector responses remains to be
clarified. Thus, we generated IL-21R-deficient mice and have investigated
the role of IL-21R signaling using a series of in vivo experimentally
induced disease models. We first addressed the role of IL-21R signaling in
Th2 immune responses by examining allergic airway inflammation, and
Nippostrongylus brasiliensis and Heligmosomoides polygyrus antihelminth
responses. In each of these systems, IL-21R signaling played a clear role in
the development of Th2 responses. Comparatively, IL-21R signaling was not
required for the containment of *Leishmania* major infection or the
development of experimental autoimmune myocarditis, indicative of competent
Th1 and Th17 responses, respectively. Adoptive transfer of T cells and
analysis of IL-21R(+/+)/ IL-21R(-/-) chimera mice revealed that
IL-21R-signaling was central to Th2-cell survival or migration to peripheral
tissues. Overall, our data show IL-21 plays a crucial role in supporting
polarized Th2 responses in vivo, while appearing superfluous for Th1 and
Th17 responses.


PMID: 17290222<http://refscout.com/cgi-bin/exportAbstract.pl?base=medline-2007-09.xml&id=17290222>
TITLE: Redirection of sphingolipid metabolism toward de novo synthesis of
ethanolamine in
*Leishmania*.<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=17290222>
AUTHORS: Kai Zhang, Justine M Pompey, Fong-Fu Hsu, Phillip Key, Padmavathi
Bandhuvula, Julie D Saba, John Turk, Stephen M Beverley
AFFILIATION: Department of Molecular Microbiology, Washington University
School of Medicine, St Louis, MO, USA.
REFERENCE: EMBO J 2007 Feb 26(4):1094-104
In most eukaryotes, sphingolipids (SLs) are critical membrane components and
signaling molecules. However, mutants of the trypanosomatid protozoan *
Leishmania* lacking serine palmitoyltransferase (spt2(-)) and SLs grow well,
although they are defective in stationary phase differentiation and
virulence. Similar phenotypes were observed in sphingolipid (SL) mutant
lacking the degradatory enzyme sphingosine 1- phosphate lyase (spl(-)). This
epistatic interaction suggested that a metabolite downstream of SLs was
responsible. Here we show that unlike other organisms, the *Leishmania* SL
pathway has evolved to be the major route for ethanolamine (EtN) synthesis,
as EtN supplementation completely reversed the viability and differentiation
defects of both mutants. Thus *Leishmania* has undergone two major metabolic
shifts: first in de-emphasizing the metabolic roles of SLs themselves in
growth, signaling, and maintenance of membrane microdomains, which may arise
from the unique combination of abundant parasite lipids; Second, freed of
typical SL functional constraints and a lack of alternative routes to
produce EtN, *Leishmania* redirected SL metabolism toward bulk EtN
synthesis. Our results thus reveal a striking example of remodeling of the
SL metabolic pathway in *Leishmania*.


PMID: 17283207<http://refscout.com/cgi-bin/exportAbstract.pl?base=medline-2007-09.xml&id=17283207>
TITLE: CD4+CD25-Foxp3- Th1 cells are the source of IL-10-mediated immune
suppression in chronic cutaneous
leishmaniasis.<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=17283207>
AUTHORS: Charles F Anderson, Mohammed Oukka, Vijay J Kuchroo, David Sacks
AFFILIATION: Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases, National Institute of Allergy
and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD
20892.
REFERENCE: J Exp Med 2007 Feb 204(2):285-97
Nonhealing forms of leishmaniasis in humans are commonly associated with
elevated levels of the deactivating cytokine IL-10, and in the mouse,
normally chronic infections can be cleared in the absence of IL-10. Using a
*Leishmania* major strain that produces nonhealing dermal lesions in a T
helper type 1 (Th1) cell-polarized setting, we have analyzed the cellular
sources of IL-10 and their relative contribution to immune suppression.
IL-10 was produced by innate cells, as well as CD4(+)CD25 (+)Foxp3(+) and
CD4(+)CD25(-)Foxp3(-) T cells in the chronic lesion. Nonetheless, only IL-10
production by antigen-specific CD4(+)CD25(-) Foxp3(-) T cells, the majority
of which also produced IFN-gamma, was necessary for suppression of acquired
immunity in Rag(-/-) reconstituted mice. Surprisingly, Rag(-/-) mice
reconstituted with naive CD4(+) T cells depleted of natural T regulatory
cells developed more severe infections, associated with elevated levels of
IL-10 and, especially, Th2 cytokines in the site. The data demonstrate that
IL-10-producing Th1 cells, activated early in a strong inflammatory setting
as a mechanism of feedback control, are the principal mediators of T
cell-derived IL-10 -dependent immune suppression in a chronic intracellular
infection.


PMID: 17296788<http://refscout.com/cgi-bin/exportAbstract.pl?base=medline-2007-09.xml&id=17296788>
TITLE: Dyslipidemia inhibits Toll-like receptor-induced activation of
CD8{alpha}-negative dendritic cells and protective Th1 type
immunity.<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=17296788>
AUTHORS: Abdijapar T Shamshiev, Franziska Ampenberger, Bettina Ernst, Lucia
Rohrer, Benjamin J Marsland, Manfred Kopf
AFFILIATION: Molecular Biomedicine, Institute of Integrative Biology, Swiss
Federal Institute of Technology Zürich, 8952 Zürich, Switzerland.
REFERENCE: J Exp Med 2007 Feb 204(2):441-52
Environmental factors, including diet, play a central role in influencing
the balance of normal immune homeostasis; however, many of the cellular
mechanisms maintaining this balance remain to be elucidated . Using mouse
models of genetic and high-fat/cholesterol diet-induced dyslipidemia, we
examined the influence of dyslipidemia on T cell and dendritic cell (DC)
responses in vivo and in vitro. We show that dyslipidemia inhibited
Toll-like receptor (TLR)-induced production of proinflammatory cytokines,
including interleukin (IL)-12, IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha, as
well as up-regulation of costimulatory molecules by CD8alpha(-) DCs, but not
by CD8alpha(+) DCs, in vivo. Decreased DC activation profoundly influenced T
helper (Th) cell responses, leading to impaired Th1 and enhanced Th2
responses. As a consequence of this immune modulation, host resistance to *
Leishmania* major was compromised. We found that oxidized low-density
lipoprotein ( oxLDL) was the key active component responsible for this
effect, as it could directly uncouple TLR-mediated signaling on CD8alpha(-)
myeloid DCs and inhibit NF-kappaB nuclear translocation. These results show
that a dyslipidemic microenvironment can directly interfere with DC
responses to pathogen-derived signals and skew the development of T cell
-mediated immunity.


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PMID: 17023215<http://refscout.com/cgi-bin/exportAbstract.pl?base=medline-2007-09.xml&id=17023215>
TITLE: Leishmaniasis and
poverty.<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=17023215>
AUTHORS: Jorge Alvar, Sergio Yactayo, Caryn Bern
AFFILIATION: Communicable Diseases, Neglected Tropical Diseases Control,
World Health Organization, 20 Ave Appia, CH-1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland.
alvarj at who.int
REFERENCE: Trends Parasitol 2006 Dec 22(12):552-7
Leishmaniasis, a neglected tropical disease, has strong but complex links
with poverty. The burden of leishmaniasis falls disproportionately on the
poorest segments of the global population. Within endemic areas , increased
infection risk is mediated through poor housing conditions and environmental
sanitation, lack of personal protective measures and economically driven
migration and employment that bring nonimmune hosts into contact with
infected sand flies. Poverty is associated with poor nutrition and other
infectious diseases, which increase the risk that a person (once infected)
will progress to the clinically manifested disease. Lack of healthcare
access causes delays in appropriate diagnosis and treatment and accentuates
leishmaniasis morbidity and mortality, particularly in women. Leishmaniasis
diagnosis and treatment are expensive and families must sell assets and take
loans to pay for care, leading to further impoverishment and reinforcement
of the vicious cycle of disease and poverty. Public investment in treatment
and control would decrease the leishmaniasis disease burden and help to
alleviate poverty.


PMID: 17315475<http://refscout.com/cgi-bin/exportAbstract.pl?base=medline-2007-09.xml&id=17315475>
TITLE: [Diffuse cutaneous leishmaniasis in a patient with
AIDS]<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=17315475>
AUTHORS: Carlos PÃ(c)rez, Yoanet Solías, Gerzaín Rodríguez
AFFILIATION: Departamentos de Medicina Interna y Servicio de Dermatología,
Hospital Militar Central, Bogotá D.C., Colombia.
REFERENCE: Biomedica 2006 Dec 26(4):485-97
OBJECTIVE: A patient with a leishmaniasis-Aids co-infection was presented
and discussed.. METHODS AND RESULTS: A 29-year -old soldier, coming from the
Province of San JosÃ(c) del Guaviare, Colombia, complained of a weight loss of
18 kgs in the previous ten months as well as a two- month-old cutaneous
leision. Elisa and Western blot tests were positive for HIV infection. LT
CD4 were 92/mm3. He had a generalized erythematous , psoriasiform dermal
lesion, which, upon biopsy, revealed an abundance of phagocytosed
microorganisms that stained black with Gomory's technique. Disseminated
histoplasmosis was diagnosed. The patient received anti-retroviral therapy
and itraconazole, without regression of the lesions. Amphotericin B was
beneficial but the lesions recurred several months later, more numerous,
nodular and with occurrence in the oral mucosa. Nine months after the
initial diagnosis additional skin biopsies and review of the previous
biopsies established that the patient had diffuse cutaneous leishmaniasis.
The *leishmania* parasite did not grow in culture. Miltefosine produced
marked improvement, but the lesions recurred and were cured finally with 52
Glucantime injections administered for two months. Presently, the patient
remains in good condition 21 months after diagnosis of leishmaniasis.
CONCLUSIONS: Diffuse cutaneous leishmaniasis may be a common clinical
manifestation when leishmaniasis and AIDS co-occur. Its treatment is
difficult and must include an antiparasitic drug as well as prophylactic,
and anti- retroviral therapy. *Leishmania* amastigotes typically are not
Gomory- positive and can be differentiated from Histoplasma by morphology,
immunohistochemistry, culture, antibody-specific response and PCR. The
leishmaniasis-AIDS co-infection enhances invasive capacity for both causal
microorganisms. Increasing case numbers can be expected in Colombia, due to
the high frequency of both diseases.


PMID: 17304790<http://refscout.com/cgi-bin/exportAbstract.pl?base=medline-2007-09.xml&id=17304790>
TITLE: The ultrastructure of the parasitophorous vacuole formed by *
Leishmania* major.<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=17304790>
AUTHORS: Ramon Castro, Khara Scott, Tiffany Jordan, Brette Evans, Joyce
Craig, Eric L Peters, Kevin Swier
AFFILIATION: Department of Biological Sciences, Chicago State University,
9501 South King Drive, Chicago, Illinois 60628, USA.
REFERENCE: J Parasitol 2006 Dec 92(6):1162-70
Protozoan parasites of *Leishmania* spp. invade macrophages as promastigotes
and differentiate into replicative amastigotes within parasitophorous
vacuoles. Infection of inbred strains of mice with *Leishmania* major is a
well-studied model of the mammalian immune response to *Leishmania* species,
but the ultrastructure and biochemical properties of the parasitophorous
vacuole occupied by this parasite have been best characterized for other
species of *Leishmania*. We examined the parasitophorous vacuole occupied by
L. major in lymph nodes of infected mice and in bone marrow-derived
macrophages infected in vitro. At all time points after infection, single L.
major amastigotes were wrapped tightly by host membrane, suggesting that
amastigotes segregate into separate vacuoles during replication. This small,
individual vacuole contrasts sharply with the large, communal vacuoles
occupied by *Leishmania* amazonensis. An extensive survey of the literature
revealed that the single vacuoles occupied by L. major are characteristic of
those formed by Old World species of *Leishmania*, while New World species
of *Leishmania* form large vacuoles occupied by many amastigotes.


PMID: 17308698<http://refscout.com/cgi-bin/exportAbstract.pl?base=medline-2007-09.xml&id=17308698>
TITLE: [Molecular diagnosis of the natural infection rate due to *Leishmania
* sp in sandflies (Psychodidae, Lutzomyia) in the Amazon region of
Maranhão, Brazil.]<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=17308698>
AUTHORS: Yrla Nívea Oliveira-Pereira, JosÃ(c) Manuel Macário Rebêlo, Jorge
Luiz Pinto Moraes, Silma Regina Ferreira Pereira
AFFILIATION: Universidade Federal do Maranhão, São Luís, MA.
REFERENCE: Rev Soc Bras Med Trop 2006 Nov-Dec 39(6):540-3
The natural infection rate due to *Leishmania* was studied in three
different sandfly species using the polymerase chain reaction technique . *
Leishmania* specific primers were designed to examine whether sandfly pools
were infected. In total 1,100 female sandflies separated into pools of 10
individuals, consisting of 50 pools of Lutzomyia whitmani, 43 of Lutzomyia
triacantha and 17 of Lutzomyia choti, were analyzed. Among all the pools
examined, four pools of Lutzomyia whitmani were positive, but none of the
pools of the other two species were infected. Thus, a total infection rate
of 0.4% was established in this study. A similar infection rate was found in
previous studies, suggesting that Lutzomyia whitmani transmits
*Leishmania*to mammals in Buriticupu, Maranh ão.


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PMID: 15378355<http://refscout.com/cgi-bin/exportAbstract.pl?base=medline-2007-09.xml&id=15378355>
TITLE: Complement C3 is required for the progression of cutaneous lesions
and neutrophil attraction in *Leishmania* major
infection.<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=15378355>
AUTHORS: Thomas Jacobs, Jörg Andrä, Iris Gaworski, Sebastian Graefe, Katja
Mellenthin, Manfred Krömer, Roman Halter, Jürgen Borlak, Joachim Clos
AFFILIATION: Department of Immunology, Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical
Medicine, Bernhard-Nocht-Str. 74, 20359, Hamburg, Germany.
tjacobs at bni-hamburg.de
REFERENCE: Med Microbiol Immunol 2005 May 194(3):143-9
To elucidate the role of complement-mediated uptake in *Leishmania* major
infection in vivo, transgenic BALB/c mice that express the cobra venom
factor (CVF) under control of the alpha1-antitrypsin promoter were infected.
CVF expression in these mice leads to a continuous activation and subsequent
consumption of complement C3 in the serum. In contrast to susceptible
non-transgenic BALB/c mice, CVF-transgenic mice are highly resistant to L.
major infection and show a significantly reduced parasite dissemination.
Transient depletion of C3 in wild-type BALB/c mice delays progression of
lesions for some days. Both CVF-transgenic and non-transgenic mice exhibit
similar T cell responses upon infection . However, in CVF-transgenic mice,
no infiltration of neutrophils, which were the prominent infiltrating cells
at the site of infection in normal susceptible mice, could be detected. We
conclude that C3 cleavage is required for the attraction of neutrophils that
participate in parasite dissemination.


PMID: 12827512<http://refscout.com/cgi-bin/exportAbstract.pl?base=medline-2007-09.xml&id=12827512>
TITLE: Comparative analysis of the nitric oxide production by
*Leishmania*sp.<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=12827512>
AUTHORS: Marcelo Genestra, Wilson Jacinto Silva de Souza, LÃ(c)a
Cysne-Finkelstein, Leonor L Leon
AFFILIATION: Department of Immunology, Oswaldo Cruz Institute, Oswaldo Cruz
Foundation--FIOCRUZ, RJ Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
REFERENCE: Med Microbiol Immunol 2003 Nov 192(4):217-23
The present report explores a comparative analysis of nitric oxide (NO (*))
production by three different species of *Leishmania* (L. amazonensis , L.
braziliensis and L. chagasi). Among these species, L. braziliensis produced
the highest amount of NO(*), measured in the supernatants of promastigotes
cultures as nitrite, a stable by-product derived from NO (*). We have
previously described the expression of a constitutive nitric oxide synthase
(cNOS) in L. amazonensis promastigotes and axenic amastigotes. Comparing
those results with the present work, using immunofluorescence assay, it was
shown that both L. braziliensis and L. chagasi also express a cNOS.
Immunostaining experiments showed that promastigotes from early passages of
these species in culture had a strong immunoreactivity against anti-cNOS and
anti-endothelial cell NOS , in comparison with the same parasite cultured
for long time, suggesting a correlation between the NO(*) production and the
presence of metacyclic forms prominent in those newly isolated parasites.
These data corroborate findings of a higher NO(*) production by those
parasites, following the growth curve. The relationship between the two
NO(*)-generating systems in the parasite and in their host cell warrants
further investigation. The presence of cNOS raises the possibility of a
similar type of cross-talk or down-regulation between the NO(*) signaling
systems in host cells and the lower eukaryotic-like *Leishmania* sp.


PMID: 12170836<http://refscout.com/cgi-bin/exportAbstract.pl?base=medline-2007-09.xml&id=12170836>
TITLE: Leishmanial polyarthritis in a
dog.<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=12170836>
AUTHORS: Sandra E McConkey, Alfonso López, Darcy Shaw, Jill Calder
AFFILIATION: Department of Pathology and Microbiology, Atlantic Veterinary
College, University of Prince Edward Island, 550 University Avenue,
Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island C1A 4P3.
REFERENCE: Can Vet J 2002 Aug 43(8):607-9
A dog adopted as a stray in Spain and then brought to Canada 4 years prior
to presentation was evaluated for polyarthritis. An electrophoresis showed a
marked polyclonal gammopathy and synovial smears contained leishmanial
organisms within macrophages.


PMID: 11770112<http://refscout.com/cgi-bin/exportAbstract.pl?base=medline-2007-09.xml&id=11770112>
TITLE: Molecular epidemiology and population genetics in
*Leishmania*.<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=11770112>
AUTHORS: G Schönian, M El Fari, S Lewin, C Schweynoch, W Presber
AFFILIATION: Institut für Mikrobiologie und Hygiene, Humboldt-Universität
Berlin, Germany.
REFERENCE: Med Microbiol Immunol 2001 Nov 190(1-2):61-3
Polymorphic DNA sequences have been amplified using different PCR-based
techniques and used for species identification, strain discrimination and
population genetic studies in *Leishmania*. A PCR fingerprinting method that
uses single non-specific primers generates species-specific banding patterns
with some intraspecies variation. This approach can be used to identify *
Leishmania* species and also to discriminate strains of different *
Leishmania* species. Cultivation of the parasites is, however, mandatory.
PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism of the internal transcribed
spacer (ITS) in the ribosomal operon differentiates all
*Leishmania*species, except members of the L. donovani and L.
brasiliensis complexes.
ITS-single-strand conformation polymorphism or ITS sequencing can detect
strain specific-variation (except in L. infantum); culturing is not
required. Species of *Leishmania* exhibit different degrees of genetic
variation (L. tropica > L. aethiopica > L. major > L. donovani). Population
analysis using co-dominant DNA markers developed by sequence-confirmed
amplified region analysis revealed a primarily clonal structure in a L.
donovani population from Sudan and suggested that occasional recombination
events may occur in this population.


PMID: 11770113<http://refscout.com/cgi-bin/exportAbstract.pl?base=medline-2007-09.xml&id=11770113>
TITLE: Emerging *Leishmania*/HIV co-infection in
Africa.<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=11770113>
AUTHORS: D Wolday, N Berhe, H Akuffo, P Desjeux, S Britton
AFFILIATION: Ethio-Netherlands AIDS Research Project at the Ethiopian Health
and Nutrition Research Institute, Addis Ababa.
REFERENCE: Med Microbiol Immunol 2001 Nov 190(1-2):65-7
The HIV/AIDS pandemic is spreading at an alarmingly high rate in Africa .
Leishmaniasis is also highly prevalent in the continent. Despite the
emergence of *Leishmania*/HIV co-infection in Africa, the numbers reported
are disproportionately low. Moreover, the number of cases of co- infection
is expected to rise in Africa owing to the simultaneous spread of the two
infectious diseases and their increasingly overlapping geographical
distribution.


PMID: 11770115<http://refscout.com/cgi-bin/exportAbstract.pl?base=medline-2007-09.xml&id=11770115>
TITLE: Chemokines, natural killer cells and granulocytes in the early course
of *Leishmania* major infection in
mice.<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=11770115>
AUTHORS: K Müller, G van Zandbergen, B Hansen, H Laufs, N Jahnke, W
Solbach, T Laskay
AFFILIATION: Institute for Medical Microbiology and Hygiene, Medical
University of Lübeck, Germany.
REFERENCE: Med Microbiol Immunol 2001 Nov 190(1-2):73-6
In the present study the early recruitment of leukocytes into the infected
skin and into the draining lymph node (LN) was investigated after
subcutaneous infection of mice with *Leishmania* major promastigotes . Flow
cytometric analysis of cells recovered from the infected skin revealed that
GR-1+ granulocytes were present as early as 10 h after infection, thus
representing the first leukocyte population to be recruited to the site of
infection. The migration of granulocytes was shown to be associated with a
rapid mRNA expression of the neutrophil- attracting chemokine KC in the
infected skin. Moreover, L. major promastigotes were found to produce
factor(s) that are chemotactic for human neutrophils in vitro. Experiments
with human neutrophils revealed that these cells are able to phagocytose the
parasites. Natural killer ( NK) cells appeared at the site of infection 24 h
after infection. The migration of NK cells in resistant mice was found to
correlate with the expression of the NK cell-activating chemokine IP-10.
Treatment of susceptible BALB/c mice with recombinant mouse IP-10 resulted
in a significantly increased NK cell cytotoxic activity in the draining LN.
These data suggest that both the early chemokine gene expression and the
production of chemotactic factors by the parasites themselves regulate the
site-directed migration and activation of cells of the innate immune
response, and suggest a role of chemotactic factors in the early defense
against the parasites.


PMID: 11770114<http://refscout.com/cgi-bin/exportAbstract.pl?base=medline-2007-09.xml&id=11770114>
TITLE: Development and application of 'simple' diagnostic tools for visceral
leishmaniasis.<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=11770114>
AUTHORS: H D Schallig, G J Schoone, C C Kroon, A Hailu, F Chappuis, H Veeken
AFFILIATION: Koninklijk Instituut voor de Tropen, Royal Tropical Institute
(KIT) Biomedical Research, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. H.Schallig at kit.nl
REFERENCE: Med Microbiol Immunol 2001 Nov 190(1-2):69-71
The diagnosis of visceral leishmaniasis is difficult. Due to the limitations
of direct methods to detect parasites, indirect immunological methods are
widely employed. The simple affordable and sensitive/specific direct
agglutination test (DAT) is perhaps the most important diagnostic tool under
field conditions. A significant improvement of this test is the use of a
freeze-dried antigen, which is heat-stable and has a long shelf-live even
under harsh conditions. The performance of this antigen in DAT has been
evaluated using samples collected in East Africa. The results of these
studies are presented. The detection of *Leishmania* infection in
HIV-co-infected patients is difficult. The combination of DAT-PCR may be
useful for the detection of parasite infection in these patients. Finally,
we present data to show that the DAT based on the freeze-dried antigen can
also be used for the detection of anti-*Leishmania* antibodies in dogs.


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PMID: 11770100<http://refscout.com/cgi-bin/exportAbstract.pl?base=medline-2007-09.xml&id=11770100>
TITLE: Proceedings of an international workshop held at the Bernhard Nocht
Institute for Tropical Medicine, Hamburg, Germany, 10-11 November
2000.<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=11770100>
REFERENCE: Med Microbiol Immunol 2001 Nov 190(1-2):1-95


PMID: 11770105<http://refscout.com/cgi-bin/exportAbstract.pl?base=medline-2007-09.xml&id=11770105>
TITLE: Leishmaniases--their relationships to monoxenous and dixenous
trypanosomatids.<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=11770105>
AUTHORS: G Grimaldi, J Schottelius
AFFILIATION: Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fiocruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
REFERENCE: Med Microbiol Immunol 2001 Nov 190(1-2):3-8


PMID: 11770120<http://refscout.com/cgi-bin/exportAbstract.pl?base=medline-2007-09.xml&id=11770120>
TITLE: The *Leishmania* genome project: new insights into gene organization
and function.<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=11770120>
AUTHORS: P J Myler, S M Beverley, A K Cruz, D E Dobson, A C Ivens, P D
McDonagh, R Madhubala, S Martinez-Calvillo, J C Ruiz, A Saxena, E Sisk, S M
Sunkin, E Worthey, S Yan, K D Stuart
AFFILIATION: Seattle Biomedical Research Institute, WA 98109-1651, USA.
mylerpj at sbri.org
REFERENCE: Med Microbiol Immunol 2001 Nov 190(1-2):9-12
The sequencing of *Leishmania* major Friedlin chromosome 1 (Chr1), Chr3, and
Chr4 has been completed. and several other chromosomes are well underway.
The complete genome sequence should be available by 2003. Over 1,000
full-length new genes have been identified, with the majority (
approximately 75%) having unknown function. Many of these may be *Leishmania
* (or kinetoplastid) specific. Most interestingly, the genes are organized
into large (> 100-500 kb) polycistronic clusters of adjacent genes on the
same DNA strand. Chr1 contains two such clusters organized in a "divergent"
manner, i.e., the mRNAs for the two sets of genes are both transcribed
towards the telomeres. Nuclear run- on analysis suggests that transcription
is initiated in both directions within the "divergent" region. Chr3 and Chr4
contain two &quot ;convergent" clusters, with a single "divergent" gene at
one telomere of Chr3. Sequence analysis of several genes from the LD1 region
of Chr35 indicates a high degree of sequence conservation between L. major
and L. donovani/L. infantum within protein-coding open reading frames
(ORFs), with a lower degree of conservation within the non- coding regions.
Immunization of mice with recombinant antigen from two of these genes, BTI
(formerly ORFG) and ORFF, results in significant reduction in parasite
burden following *Leishmania* challenge. Recombinant ORFF antigen shows
promise as a serodiagnostic. We have also developed a tetracycline-regulated
promoter system, which allows us to modulate gene expression in *Leishmania*
.


PMID: 11770101<http://refscout.com/cgi-bin/exportAbstract.pl?base=medline-2007-09.xml&id=11770101>
TITLE: Lipophosphoglycan of the protozoan parasite *Leishmania*: stage- and
species-specific importance for colonization of the sandfly vector,
transmission and virulence to
mammals.<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=11770101>
AUTHORS: T Ilg
AFFILIATION: Max-Planck-Institut für Biologie, Abteilung Membranbiochemie,
Tübingen, Germany. thomas.ilg at tuebingen.mpg.de
REFERENCE: Med Microbiol Immunol 2001 Nov 190(1-2):13-7
Leishmaniasis is a major health problem to the human population of the
tropics, subtropics and Mediterranean regions. This disease is caused by the
parasitic protozoa *Leishmania*, which have adapted to survive in several
hostile environments such as the vector insect midgut, blood and the
mammalian macrophage phagolysosome. Several *Leishmania* glycoconjugates
have been implicated as key molecules for these remarkable capabilities.
This review summarizes the current knowledge on potential and proven
functions of the most prominent of the *Leishmania* glycoconjugates, the
lipophosphoglycan.


PMID: 11770102<http://refscout.com/cgi-bin/exportAbstract.pl?base=medline-2007-09.xml&id=11770102>
TITLE: Homologues of LMPK, a mitogen-activated protein kinase from *
Leishmania* mexicana, in different *Leishmania*
species.<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=11770102>
AUTHORS: M Wiese, I Görcke
AFFILIATION: Max-Planck-Institut für Biologie, Abteilung Membranbiochemie,
Tübingen, Germany. martin.wiese at bni-hamburg.de
REFERENCE: Med Microbiol Immunol 2001 Nov 190(1-2):19-22
LMPK, a mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase homologue of
*Leishmania*mexicana, is essential for the proliferation of the
amastigote, the
mammalian stage of the protozoan parasite. This has been demonstrated using
deletion mutant promastigotes, the insect stage of the parasite: first, in
vitro after differentiation to amastigotes, which subsequently lost their
potential to proliferate; second, by infection of peritoneal macrophages,
which were able to cope with the infection and cleared the parasites; third,
by infection of BALB/c mice, which showed no lesion development. The lmpk
deletion mutant promastigotes are a potential live vaccine because they
infect macrophages, transform to amastigotes and deliver amastigote antigens
to raise an immune response without causing the disease. In addition,
inhibition of LMPK in a wild-type infection is likely to resolve the disease
and as such, is an ideal target for drug development against leishmaniasis.
Here we investigated the presence and copy number of lmpk homologues in *
Leishmania* amazonensis, L. major, L. tropica, L. aethiopica, L. donovani,
L. infantum, and L. braziliensis and discuss the results with regard to drug
development and vaccination using kinase deletion mutants.


PMID: 11770103<http://refscout.com/cgi-bin/exportAbstract.pl?base=medline-2007-09.xml&id=11770103>
TITLE: Post transcriptional control of gene expression in
*Leishmania*.<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=11770103>
AUTHORS: M Shapira, A Zilka, S Garlapati, E Dahan, I Dahan, V Yavesky
AFFILIATION: Department of Life Sciences, Ben Gurion University of the
Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel. shapiram at bgumail.bgu.ac.il
REFERENCE: Med Microbiol Immunol 2001 Nov 190(1-2):23-6
*Leishmania* parasites are ancient eukaryotes, characterized by unusual
molecular mechanisms. We have used the gene encoding for Hsp83 as a model
system for studying regulatory mechanisms that control developmental gene
regulation. We previously showed that protein coding genes are regulated
exclusively by post-transcriptional mechanisms, while no transcriptional
activation could be observed even for the conserved Hsp83 gene. We now show
that processing and maturation of the Hsp83 polycistronic primary
transcripts is more efficient at elevated temperatures. The mature
transcripts are more stable during heat shock, with regulation conferred by
3' UTRs. Poly(A) tails of Hsp83 are approximately 30 nucleotides long, as
common for other low eukaryotes. The mechanism that signals differential
degradation is still unclear, since it was not possible to detect
differences in deadenylation of Hsp83 transcripts at varying temperatures.
Heat shock transcripts are preferentially translated at 33-37 degrees C, but
unlike Drosophila, translational regulation is controlled by a region within
the 3' UTR. Using this traditionally conserved system emphasizes that
regulatory mechanisms in *Leishmania* differ from those prevailing in other
eukaryotes.


PMID: 11770104<http://refscout.com/cgi-bin/exportAbstract.pl?base=medline-2007-09.xml&id=11770104>
TITLE: The heat shock protein 90 of *Leishmania*
donovani.<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=11770104>
AUTHORS: M Wiesgigl, J Clos
AFFILIATION: Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, Hamburg,
Germany.
REFERENCE: Med Microbiol Immunol 2001 Nov 190(1-2):27-31
The 90-kDa heat shock protein (Hsp90) of *Leishmania* donovani is a highly
abundant cytoplasmic protein and is involved in a variety of cellular
processes. Pharmacological deactivation of Hsp90 leads to growth arrest and
induces the synthesis of heat shock proteins. Moreover, treatment of
promastigote parasites with Hsp90 inhibitors induces the synthesis of
amastigote-specific marker proteins and a morphological alteration similar
to axenic amastigote differentiation. We propose a role for Hsp90 in the
feedback control of the cellular stress response and in the control of the
parasite's life cycle.


PMID: 11770106<http://refscout.com/cgi-bin/exportAbstract.pl?base=medline-2007-09.xml&id=11770106>
TITLE: Comparative proteome analysis of *Leishmania* donovani at different
stages of transformation from promastigotes to
amastigotes.<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=11770106>
AUTHORS: M Thiel, I Bruchhaus
AFFILIATION: Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, Hamburg,
Germany.
REFERENCE: Med Microbiol Immunol 2001 Nov 190(1-2):33-6
To pass through its life cycle, protozoan parasites of the genus *Leishmania
* have to differentiate from promastigotes to amastigotes. The molecular
basis underiving this major transformation is poorly understood. One way to
study this phenomenon is to isolate and characterize proteins that are
specifically expressed in one of the two stages of the life cycle or during
the stage differentiation. Using two- dimensional gel electrophoresis, we
mapped the *Leishmania* donovani proteome during stage differentiation to
identify stage-specific proteins and regulons. A protocol for extracting
proteins of both promastigote and amastigote L. donovani cells was
developed, which is compatible with isoelectric focusing. Up to 400 L.
donovani protein spots were visualized on a silver-stained gel. Metabolic
labeling of the cells was used to compare directly the protein synthesis
pattern with the protein level pattern. The silver-stained images of L.
donovani cells harvested on different days of stage differentiation were
compared to the corresponding autoradiographs. A marked decrease in protein
synthesis during stage differentiation from promastigotes to amastigotes was
observed. The stained protein pattern as well as the protein pattern on the
autoradiograph changed dramatically, especially after day 3 (about 24 h
after pH shift) of transformation.


PMID: 11770107<http://refscout.com/cgi-bin/exportAbstract.pl?base=medline-2007-09.xml&id=11770107>
TITLE: *Leishmania* infection and
virulence.<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=11770107>
AUTHORS: G Matlashewski
AFFILIATION: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, McGill University,
Montreal, Quebec, Canada. greg_matlashewski at maclan.mcgill.ca
REFERENCE: Med Microbiol Immunol 2001 Nov 190(1-2):37-42
Leishmaniasis is among the most important infectious diseases of the
developing world. With the advent of effective culture conditions for the
various stages of the life cycle, together with state of the art
biochemical, genomics, and reverse genetic approaches, it has been possible
to identify virulence factors required for the infection process. Several of
these virulence factors are discussed within including lipophosphoglygan,
A2, cysteine proteinases, and gp63.


PMID: 11770108<http://refscout.com/cgi-bin/exportAbstract.pl?base=medline-2007-09.xml&id=11770108>
TITLE: Use of genetic complementation to identify gene(s) which specify
species-specific organ tropism of
*Leishmania*.<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=11770108>
AUTHORS: C Hoyer, K Mellenthin, M Schilhabel, M Platzer, J Clos
AFFILIATION: Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, Hamburg,
Germany.
REFERENCE: Med Microbiol Immunol 2001 Nov 190(1-2):43-6
We have employed a genetic complementation screening to identify genetic
markers of heat stress tolerance and visceralisation of *Leishmania*infection.
*Leishmania* major, which has a low thermotolerance and which causes
cutaneous lesions, was transfected with a cosmid library of L. donovani DNA.
The recombinant parasites were then screened either for thermotolerance or
selected by repeated passage in BALB/c mice. Cosmids which conferred
selective advantage were isolated. Several strategies were tested to
identify the gene(s) within the cosmids responsible for the observed
selective advantages. Of the approaches tested, the complete sequence
analysis of the cosmids and subsequent screening of defined candidate ORFs
proved to be the method of choice. Other approaches, such as creation of
sub-libraries or transposon insertion strategies proved to be unsuccessful.


PMID: 11770109<http://refscout.com/cgi-bin/exportAbstract.pl?base=medline-2007-09.xml&id=11770109>
TITLE: Heat shock protein 100 and the amastigote stage-specific A2 proteins
of *Leishmania*
donovani.<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=11770109>
AUTHORS: J Clos, L Klaholz, M Kroemer, S Krobitsch, S Lindquist
AFFILIATION: Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, Hamburg,
Germany. clos at bni.uni-hamburg.de
REFERENCE: Med Microbiol Immunol 2001 Nov 190(1-2):47-50
HSP100 protein in *Leishmania* spp. plays an important role for the survival
and integrity of intracellular amastigotes. The A2 proteins of L. donovani
are functionally linked to HSP100. There is evidence for an interdependence
between these two proteins, which are both expressed predominantly in the
amastigote stage of *Leishmania* donovani. Mutant strains lacking either of
these proteins display very similar phenotypes , i.e. loss of virulence both
in vivo and in vitro. Also, both proteins colocalise specifically to small
foci within the cytoplasm of amastigotes.


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PMID: 11770110<http://refscout.com/cgi-bin/exportAbstract.pl?base=medline-2007-09.xml&id=11770110>
TITLE: The biological function of sand fly and *Leishmania*
glycosidases.<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=11770110>
AUTHORS: R L Jacobson, Y Schlein, C L Eisenberger
AFFILIATION: Department of Parasitology, The Kuvin Center for Study of
Infectious and Tropical Diseases, The Hebrew University Hadassah Medical
School, Jerusalem, Israel. jacobsr at cc.huji.ac.il
REFERENCE: Med Microbiol Immunol 2001 Nov 190(1-2):51-5
This is a summary of the recent work on some glycosidases of sand flies and
their *Leishmania* parasites. Glycosidases catalyze the hydrolysis of
complex sugar subunits of polysaccharides into simple sugars.
*Leishmania*major parasites secrete chitinase and
N-acetylglucosaminase, which enables
them to survive in the gut of the sand fly and are important in facilitating
their transmission by the phlebotomine sand fly Phlebotomus papatasi. These
enzymes are found in a wide range of trypanosomatids and the gene locus is
highly conserved. The sand flies feed on plants and the ingested tissues may
contain cellulose particles that the sand flies are unable to digest.
Cellulolytic enzymes are secreted by L. major promastigotes and this may
help to break down cellulose in infected flies and sustain their growth.
Starch is a main photosynthesis product that is stored in leaves. Starch
grains have been found in the midguts of field caught sand flies and
alpha-amylase, the specific enzyme for starch, has been found in the
salivary glands and other organs of Lutzomyia longipalpis and P. papatasi.
Alpha-amylase and alpha -glucosidase are expressed by L. major promastigotes
and alpha- glucosidase is secreted by several trypanosomatid genera, but not
by all those examined. Primers originally designed to amplify P. papatasi
amylase DNA sequences, by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), also amplified
DNA from all Old World *Leishmania* species, indicating that the gene is
highly conserved between sand flies and these parasites.


PMID: 11770111<http://refscout.com/cgi-bin/exportAbstract.pl?base=medline-2007-09.xml&id=11770111>
TITLE: Recent advances in the taxonomy of the New World leishmanial
parasites.<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=11770111>
AUTHORS: E Cupolillo, F Aguiar Alves, L R Brahim, M F Naiff, L O Pereira, M
P Oliveira-Neto, A Falqueto, G Grimaldi
AFFILIATION: Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Hospital Evandro Chagas/Fiocruz, Rio de
Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
REFERENCE: Med Microbiol Immunol 2001 Nov 190(1-2):57-60


PMID: 9574904<http://refscout.com/cgi-bin/exportAbstract.pl?base=medline-2007-09.xml&id=9574904>
TITLE: Genetic polymorphism of *Leishmania* species using kinetoplast DNA
restriction fragment length polymorphism and cDNA probe of
*Leishmania*donovani.<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=9574904>
AUTHORS: G S Kapoor, S K Arora, S Sehgal
AFFILIATION: Department of Immunopathology, Postgraduate Institute of
Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India.
REFERENCE: Med Microbiol Immunol 1998 Mar 186(4):209-14
Leishmaniasis represents a group of diseases that range from simple
cutaneous lesions through metastasizing diffused cutaneous to severe
systemic infection depending upon the taxon to which the causative parasite
belongs. Therefore, it is important to identify the infecting *Leishmania*.
Methods presently being used, including immunology, biochemistry and
molecular biology have one or the other limitations, leaving scope for the
search for newer probes. This study reports the characterization of *
leishmania* isolates both by restriction fragment length polymorphism of
kinetoplast DNA (kDNA) and genomic DNA. The genomic DNA was probed with a
cDNA probe B2a1. Using a kDNA restriction pattern technique, different
isolates of *Leishmania* donovani could be differentiated from the UR6
strain of L. tropica, but it was not possible to differentiate between newer
local isolates of L. donovani with most of the restriction enzymes except
AluI. However, the B2a1 cDNA probe was able to differentiate these isolates
effectively. Both of these techniques could differentiate newer local
isolates of L. donovani from the older isolates of L. donovani from India,
i.e., DD8, RMRI and SS. The Indian isolates of L. donovani could also be
differentiated from isolates of L. donovani from Jeddah and Germany using
both techniques. The present study indicates that the cDNA probe B2a1 can be
used as an important adjunct to kDNA restriction analysis for the
characterization of *Leishmania* species.


PMID: 9403834<http://refscout.com/cgi-bin/exportAbstract.pl?base=medline-2007-09.xml&id=9403834>
TITLE: *Leishmania* major infection in C57BL/10 mice differing at the Lps
locus: a new non-healing
phenotype.<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=9403834>
AUTHORS: I Müller, M Freudenberg, P Kropf, A F Kiderlen, C Galanos
AFFILIATION: Department of Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, IN
46556, USA. muller.4. at nd.edu
REFERENCE: Med Microbiol Immunol 1997 Oct 186(2-3):75-81
The course of cutaneous leishmaniasis was examined in mice from two
genetically closely related strains, C57BL/10ScCr (Cr) and C57BL/10ScSn
(Sn). Sn mice are able to heal *Leishmania* major infections, while Cr mice
are unable to heal. The cutaneous lesions of the Cr mice progressed
continuously and the increase in lesion size was paralleled by an
unrestricted growth of the parasites in vivo. Cr mice, in contrast to their
Sn counterparts, are highly resistant to all effects of lipopolysaccharide
(LPS). The nonhealing L. major infection in Cr mice is in sharp contrast to
the course of infection in another endotoxin- nonresponder mouse strain,
C3H/HeJ, which heal infections with L. major . Cr mice exhibit, in addition
to the defective LPS responsiveness, an impaired interferon-gamma
(IFN-gamma) response after infection with a variety of microorganisms. The
insufficient activation of parasitized macrophages to kill intracellular L.
major could be due to the inability of splenocytes from infected Cr mice to
secrete IFN-gamma upon restimulation with L. major. IFN-gamma is essential
for the efficient activation of parasitized macrophages to kill
intracellular L. major by producing nitric oxide (NO). Although bone
marrow-derived Cr macrophage do not produce NO in response to LPS, both Sn
and Cr macrophages release NO upon stimulation with IFN-gamma and tumor
necrosis factor, indicating that they are responsive to activation by these
cytokines.


PMID: 8811647<http://refscout.com/cgi-bin/exportAbstract.pl?base=medline-2007-09.xml&id=8811647>
TITLE: Cutaneous leishmaniasis: a model for analysis of the immunoregulation
by accessory cells.<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=8811647>
AUTHORS: H Moll, U Ritter, S FlohÃ(c), K Erb, C Bauer, C Blank
AFFILIATION: Research Center for Infectious Diseases, University of
Würzburg, Germany.
REFERENCE: Med Microbiol Immunol 1996 Feb 184(4):163-8
In the mammalian host, *Leishmania* are obligate intracellular parasites and
invade macrophages and Langerhans cells. The accessory functions of both
types of host cells are important for regulation of the specific cellular
immune response and involve the following activities: infiltration into the
site of infection, initiation of a T cell response , maintenance of immunity
and the effector mechanisms that control intracellular parasite replication.


PMID: 1349724<http://refscout.com/cgi-bin/exportAbstract.pl?base=medline-2007-09.xml&id=1349724>
TITLE: Immunobiology of experimental
leishmaniasis.<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=1349724>
AUTHORS: I Müller, U Fruth, J A Louis
AFFILIATION: WHO Immunology Research and Training Centre, University of
Lausanne, Switzerland.
REFERENCE: Med Microbiol Immunol 1992 181(1):1-12
Self-cure versus uncontrolled disease progression in experimental murine
cutaneous leishmaniasis depends upon a delicate interplay among various
activated cells of the host's immune system. Susceptibility or resistance to
infection with *Leishmania* major is correlated with the ability of
different inbred strains of mice to produce the characteristic spectra of
lymphokines upon infection. Appropriate experimental interventions now allow
the modulation of these responses, providing the possibility to render
genetically susceptible mice resistant to infection and, vice versa, to
cause genotypically " healer" strains to express a "non-healer" phenotype.
These experimental manipulations have proven to be powerful tools in the
dissection of the underlying immune mechanisms and cellular parameters
responsible for susceptibility and resistance, and will perhaps allow the
identification of molecules of parasite origin that induce deleterious
immune responses to infection with *Leishmania*, and thus to exclude them
from future vaccines. More importantly, rational immune intervention could
permit the diversion of established host-damaging immune responses to
host-protective immunization.


PMID: 2056963<http://refscout.com/cgi-bin/exportAbstract.pl?base=medline-2007-09.xml&id=2056963>
TITLE: Use of in vitro method to assess different brands of anti-leishmanial
drugs.<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=2056963>
AUTHORS: S K Arora, R Sinha, S Sehgal
AFFILIATION: Department of Immunopathology, Postgraduate Institute of
Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India.
REFERENCE: Med Microbiol Immunol 1991 180(1):21-7
Reports in the literature indicate the use of animal models for testing
newer anti-leishmanial drugs in vivo. However, in certain established cell
lines and macrophages in vitro models have the advantage over the in vivo
system of simplicity and speed with which the results can be obtained. A
simple in vitro system using peritoneal exudate macrophages of BALB/c mice
infected with *Leishmania* donovani promastigotes has been tested for its
use in determining the efficacy of several new drugs. Two well-established
drugs, amphotericin B and sodium stibogluconate, as expected, could kill the
intracellular parasites effectively. Two relatively new drugs not routinely
used against *leishmania*, rifampicin and metronidazole at concentrations of
20 micrograms/ml and 10 micrograms/ml, respectively, were also able to kill
the intracellular *leishmania* parasites effectively. Critical factors for
drug testing in vitro have been elucidated: the most important being the
temperature of incubation after infection.


PMID: 2733636<http://refscout.com/cgi-bin/exportAbstract.pl?base=medline-2007-09.xml&id=2733636>
TITLE: Identification of major antigens of *Leishmania* donovani using kala
azar sera.<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=2733636>
AUTHORS: S K Arora, S Sehgal
AFFILIATION: Department of Immunopathology, Postgraduate Institute of
Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India.
REFERENCE: Med Microbiol Immunol 1989 178(2):81-8
The study was conducted with the prime objective of isolating an antigen
from the crude preparation of whole promastigotes (*Leishmania* donovani )
with a view to future exploitation in serodiagnosis and production of
monoclonal antibodies. Soluble antigen, prepared from promastigotes isolated
from actively growing cultures, was fractionated by gel filtration
chromatography over a column of Sephadex G200. Three peaks of proteins could
be recovered. The antigenic reactivity of different fractions was checked
against sera of kala azar patients by immunoelectrophoresis (IEP), rocket
immunoelectrophoresis (RIEP) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).
The first peak was found to be highly reactive in comparison with other
peaks. SDS-PAGE and western blot analysis of this antigen revealed a major
antigen of promastigotes in the vicinity of 65 to 66 kDa, while a weakly
reactive triplet could also be detected in the low molecular weight region.


REQUEST: [ sand fly NOT culicoides ]
(3 articles match this request. 1 article matching other requests removed)

PMID: 17308810<http://refscout.com/cgi-bin/exportAbstract.pl?base=medline-2007-09.xml&id=17308810>
TITLE: Pintomyia (Pifanomyia) paleotownsendi, a new *sand fly* from the
Miocene amber of Dominican Republic (Diptera: Psychodidae:
Phlebotominae).<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=17308810>
AUTHORS: JosÃ(c) Dilermando Andrade Filho, Alda Lima Falcão, Eunice A Bianchi
Galati, Reginaldo Peçanha Brazil
AFFILIATION: Laboratório de Leishmanioses, Centro de Pesquisas RenÃ(c)
Rachou-Fiocruz, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brasil.
REFERENCE: Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz 2006 Dec 101 Suppl 2():57-8
Phlebotominae includes some vector species, mainly that of leishmaniases ,
with a very old host-parasite relationship. Some species fossils of this
subfamily have been recently described and this paper presents the
description of a new *sand fly* Pintomyia (Pifanomyia) paleotownsendi sp.
nov in amber. The gonostyle present four spines, being one apical, one
external superior implanted close to the apical third, one external inferior
in the middle of the structure and one internal implanted in the basal
third. This disposition of the spines may separate the new species from
others in the sub genus.


PMID: 17315482<http://refscout.com/cgi-bin/exportAbstract.pl?base=medline-2007-09.xml&id=17315482>
TITLE: [Redescription of the female of Lutzomyia vattierae (Diptera:
Psychodidae, Phlebotominae) from the serranía de La Macarena, Central
Colombia]<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=17315482>
AUTHORS: Eduar Elías Bejarano, Patricia Duque, Iván Darío VÃ(c)lez
AFFILIATION: Grupo de Investigaciones BiomÃ(c)dicas, Universidad de Sucre,
Sincelejo, Colombia. eduarelias at yahoo.com
REFERENCE: Biomedica 2006 Dec 26(4):556-61
INTRODUCTION: Lutzomyia species of the subgenus Sciopemyia show restricted
distribution and are rarely represented in *sand fly* captures , with the
exception of L. sordellii, which is found from Costa Rica to Argentina. To
date, only two of these species. L. sordellii and L. preclara have been
reported in Colombia. OBJECTIVE: The female of L. vattierae was redescribed
and the record of this Sciopemyia species established for in the Colombian
national park, serranía de La Macarena . MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study
was carried out in the Serrania de La Macarena, in western province of Meta.
The serrania is a small mountain range situated between the Orinoco and
Amazon River basins and geographically separated from the Andes. Sand flies
were collected during two consecutive nights with a CDC light trap placed
from 18:00 to 06:00 hours in a primary forest. RESULTS: Four females
belonging to the subgenus Sciopemyia were identified as L. vattierae, which
differs from L. preclara by the presence of papillae on the third
flagellomere and from L. sordellii by the form and length of the
spermathecae and individual sperm ducts. CONCLUSION: The number of known
species of Sciopemyia in Colombia is now three and include L. sordellii, L.
preclara, and L. vattierae.


REQUEST: [ sandfly NOT culicoides ]
(4 articles match this request. 3 articles matching other requests removed)

PMID: 17313512<http://refscout.com/cgi-bin/exportAbstract.pl?base=medline-2007-09.xml&id=17313512>
TITLE: Evaluation of a mass distribution programme for fine-mesh impregnated
bednets against visceral leishmaniasis in eastern
Sudan.<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=17313512>
AUTHORS: Koert Ritmeijer, Clive Davies, Ruth van Zorge, Shr-Jie Wang, Judy
Schorscher, Salah Ibrahim Dongu'du, Robert N Davidson
AFFILIATION: MÃ(c)decins Sans Frontières-Holland, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
REFERENCE: Trop Med Int Health 2007 Mar 12(3):404-14
Summary During an epidemic of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) in eastern Sudan,
MÃ(c)decins Sans Frontières distributed 357 000 insecticide- treated bednets
(ITN) to 155 affected villages between May 1999 and March 2001. To estimate
the protective effect of the ITN, we evaluated coverage and use of ITN, and
analysed VL incidence by village from March 1996 to June 2002. We provided
ITN to 94% of the individuals >5 years old. Two years later, 44% (95% CI
39-48%) of nets were reasonably intact . Because ITN were mainly used as
protection against nuisance mosquitoes , bednet use during the VL
transmission season ranged from <10% during the hot dry months to 55% during
the beginning of the rainy season. ITN were put up from 9 to 11 p.m.,
leaving children unprotected during a significant period of *sandfly*-biting
hours after sunset. Regression analysis of incidence data from 114 villages
demonstrated a significant reduction of VL by village and month following
ITN provision . The greatest effect was 17-20 months post-intervention, with
VL cases reduced by 59% (95% CI: 25-78%). An estimated 1060 VL cases were
prevented between June 1999 and January 2001, a mean protective effect of
27%. Although results need to be interpreted with caution, this analysis
indicates a potentially strong reduction in VL incidence following a
community distribution of ITN. The effectiveness of ITN depends on
behavioural factors, which differ between communities.


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