Search

Although there has been an extensive research on vaccine development over the last decade and some vaccines have been commercialized for canine visceral leishmaniasis (CVL), but as yet no effective vaccine is available for anthroponotic VL which may partly be due to the absence of an appropriate adjuvant system. Vaccines alone yield poor immunity hence requiring an adjuvant which can boost the immunosuppressed state of VL infected individuals by eliciting adaptive immune responses to achieve required immunological enhancement. Recent studies have documented the continuous efforts that are being made in the field of adjuvants research in an attempt to render vaccines more effective. This review article focuses on adjuvants, particularly particulate and non-particulate ones, which have been assessed with VL vaccine candidates in several preclinical and clinical trials outlining the induction of immune responses obtained from these studies. Moreover, we have emphasized the applicability of multiple adjuvants combination for an improvement in the potential of a VL vaccine., (Copyright © 2019. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

An effective therapeutic vaccination strategy is required for controlling visceral leishmaniasis (VL), a fatal systemic disease, through boosting the immunosuppressed state in Leishmania-infected individuals, as the majority of them living in the endemic regions exhibit either subclinical or asymptomatic infection which further often develops into a full-blown disease. Previously in our laboratory, several Th1 stimulatory recombinant proteins were successfully cloned, purified and assessed for their prophylactic efficacy against Leishmania challenge. Due to their immunostimulatory property, these proteins are needed to be evaluated for their immunotherapeutic potential in Leishmania-infected hamsters. Four proteins namely, aldolase, enolase, p45 and triose phosphate isomerase were taken up to immunize animals at different doses (50, 25 and 12.5 μg/animal). Immunization with lower doses of aldolase and enolase, i.e., 25 and 12.5 μg showed a significant decline (∼60%) in parasitic load along with an enhanced cellular immune response. These findings indicate that vaccination with above -stated Th1 stimulatory proteins is an effective immunotherapeutic approach against experimental VL. However, their efficacies may further be improved in combination with known therapeutic regimens or immunomodulators., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)