Subject(s)
Antigens, Protozoan/immunology , Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay/methods , Leishmania donovani/immunology , Leishmaniasis, Cutaneous/diagnosis , Leishmaniasis, Visceral/diagnosis , Antigens, Protozoan/blood , Antigens, Protozoan/isolation & purification , Brazil , Case-Control Studies , Humans , India , Leishmania donovani/isolation & purification , Leishmaniasis, Cutaneous/blood , Leishmaniasis, Cutaneous/epidemiology , Leishmaniasis, Cutaneous/immunology , Leishmaniasis, Visceral/blood , Leishmaniasis, Visceral/epidemiology , Leishmaniasis, Visceral/immunology , Sensitivity and SpecificityABSTRACT
An intrafamilial outbreak in West Bengal, India, involving 5 deaths and person-to-person transmission was attributed to Nipah virus. Full-genome sequence of Nipah virus (18,252 nt) amplified from lung tissue showed 99.2% nt and 99.8% aa identity with the Bangladesh-2004 isolate, suggesting a common source of the virus.
Subject(s)
Genome, Viral/genetics , Henipavirus Infections/virology , Nipah Virus/genetics , Adult , Amino Acid Substitution/genetics , Female , Henipavirus Infections/mortality , Henipavirus Infections/transmission , Humans , India , Male , Molecular Sequence Data , Nipah Virus/isolation & purification , Phylogeny , Viral Proteins/geneticsABSTRACT
Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) or kala-azar is known to be associated with a mixed Th1-Th2 response, and effective host defense requires the induction of IFN-gamma and IL-12. We address the role of the differential decline of IL-10 and TGF-beta in response to sodium antimony gluconate (SAG) and amphotericin B (AmB), the therapeutic success of SAG and AmB in Indian VL, and the significance of IL-10 and TGF-beta in the development and progression of post-kazla-azar dermal leishmaniasis (PKDL). In the active disease, PBMC from VL patients showed suppressed Ag-specific lymphoproliferation, IFN-gamma and IL-12 production, and elevation of IL-10 and TGF-beta. Cure corresponded with an elevation in IFN-gamma and IL-12 production and down-regulation of IL-10 and TGF-beta. Both CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells were involved in IFN-gamma and IL-10 production. Interestingly, the retention and maintenance of residual IL-10 and TGF-beta in some SAG-treated individuals and the elevation of IL-10 and TGF-beta in PKDL, a sequel to kala-azar, probably reflects the role of these cytokines in reactivation of the disease in the form of PKDL. Contrastingly, AmB treatment of VL resulted in negligible TGF-beta levels and absolute elimination of IL-10, reflecting the better therapeutic activity of AmB and its probable role in the recent decline in PKDL occurrences in India. Moreover, elucidation of immune responses in Indian PKDL patients revealed a spectral pattern of disease progression where disease severity could be correlated inversely with lymphoproliferation and directly with TGF-beta, IL-10, and Ab production. In addition, the enhancement of CD4(+)CD25(+) T cells in active VL, their decline at cure, and reactivation in PKDL suggest their probable immunosuppressive role in these disease forms.
