Anti-Leishmania titers and positive skin tests in patients cured of kala-azar
Braz. j. med. biol. res
;
44(1): 62-65, Jan. 2011. tab
Article
Dans Anglais
| LILACS
| ID: lil-571358
ABSTRACT
Visceral leishmaniasis (VL), also known as kala-azar, is an important public health problem. If not treated, virtually all clinically symptomatic patients die within months. The diagnosis is based on the Montenegro skin test (MST) and anti-Leishmania titers. Nevertheless, the time required for cured individuals living in a leishmaniasis-endemic area to present a positive skin test and negative anti-Leishmania serology is known. To determine the cellular and humoral immune response profile in relation to different times post-VL cure, a cross-sectional study was conducted on subjects from a kala-azar endemic area in Paço do Lumiar, MA, Brazil, on the basis of 1995-2005 notifications reported by the National Health Foundation/Regional Coordination of Maranhão. We visited cured individuals with a history of VL within the last 10 years. Seventy-four subjects (30 females) ranging in age from 1 to 44 years were included, all of them symptom free at the time of the study. A cellular immune response was observed in 73 (98.6 percent) subjects, whereas no significant antibody titers were detected by indirect immunofluorescence (IIF) in the sera of 69 (93.2 percent) cases. Ten years post-cure, 39 (52 percent) subjects had a positive MST and negative IIF reaction, while in one subject the skin and anti-Leishmania serology tests were negative. Two other subjects were positive in both tests 1 year after cure. These data suggest that a cellular immune response may still be present in subjects cured of VL regardless of post-cure time, and that the parasite persists in the host after clinical cure of the disease. This would explain the persistence of significant Leishmania sp antibody titers in some subjects after treatment.
Texte intégral:
Disponible
Indice:
LILAS (Amériques)
Sujet Principal:
Anticorps antiprotozoaires
/
Immunité cellulaire
/
Leishmaniose viscérale
Type d'étude:
Étude observationnelle
/
Étude de prévalence
/
Facteurs de risque
Limites du sujet:
Adolescent
/
Adulte
/
Enfant
/
Enfant d'âge préscolaire
/
Femelle
/
Humains
/
Bébé
/
Mâle
langue:
Anglais
Texte intégral:
Braz. j. med. biol. res
Thème du journal:
Biologie
/
Médicament
Année:
2011
Type:
Article
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