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The use of adjuvants in vaccine formulations is a well-established practice to improve immunogenicity and protective immunity against diseases. Previously, we have demonstrated the feasibility of intranasal vaccination with the antigen of killed Leishmania amazonensis promastigotes (LaAg) against experimental leishmaniasis. In this work, we sought to optimize the immunogenic effect and protective immunity against murine visceral leishmaniasis conferred by intranasal delivery of LaAg in combination with a synthetic TLR1/TLR2 agonist (Pam3CSK4). Intranasal vaccination with LaAg/PAM did not show toxicity or adverse effects, induced the increase of delayed-type hypersensitivity response and the production of inflammatory cytokines after parasite antigen recall. However, mice vaccinated with LaAg/PAM and challenged with Leishmania infantum presented significant reduction of parasite burden in both liver and spleen, similar to those vaccinated with LaAg. Although LaAg/PAM intranasal vaccination had induced higher frequencies of specific CD4+ and CD8+ T cells and increased levels of IgG2a antibody isotype in serum, both LaAg and LaAg/PAM groups presented similar levels of IL-4 and IFN-y and decreased production of IL-10 when compared to controls. Our results provide the first evidence of the feasibility of intranasal immunization with antigens of killed Leishmania in association with a TLR agonist, which may be explored for developing an effective and alternative strategy for vaccination against visceral leishmaniasis.

Este artigo visa a divulgar as discussoes concernentes a execucao da primeira etapa do projeto de pesquisa experimental “criacao de farming game do campus Santa Teresa”, financiado pela Fundacao de Amparo a Pesquisa e Inovacao Tecnologica do Espirito Santo (Fapes). O texto inicia com uma revisao de literatura da area dos games studies, que nos permite adentrar as questoes inerentes a multidisciplinaridade dos estudos nesse âmbito de pesquisa e a elaboracao de debates sobre o que chamamos de “ficcionalizacao do real”. As discussoes aqui explicitadas se concentram na multidisciplinaridade dos saberes envolvidos, determinados a tentar responder a seguinte pergunta de pesquisa: e possivel criar um jogo para celulares que seja atrativo e que, ao mesmo tempo, represente a vida e o trabalho no campo de forma menos ficcional e mais proxima do real? A resposta e afirmativa, desde que sejam abarcados conhecimentos da area tecnica.