Abstract
Leishmaniasis is a heterogeneous group of neglected tropical diseases with various clinical syndromes, which is caused by obligate intracellular protozoa of the genus Leishmania and transmitted by the bite of a female phlebotomine sandfly. Humans and several animal species are considered as reservoirs of the disease. Among other animal species, dogs are the most important reservoirs in a domestic environment, maintaining the endemic focus of the parasite. The behavior of the disease progression and the clinical symptoms of the disease in the infected dog is mainly associated with depressed cellular immunity and strong humoral response. This study aimed to assess the role of Western blotting in the analysis of the idiotype expression of the two main immunoglobulins (IgG1 and IgG2) in dogs that are naturally infected with Leishmania infantum (L. infantum) and treated with N-methyl meglumine antimoniate. Interestingly, for the first time, our study identified several L. infantum antigen polypeptides (14, 31, 33, 49, 64, 66, 99, and 169 kDa) that more frequently stimulate an immune reaction in recovered dogs after treatment, whereas in the non-recovered group of dogs, four antigen polypeptides of L. infantum with molecular weights of 31, 49, 66, and 115 kDa with unfavorable prognosis were identified. Clearly, these interesting findings confirm the strong association between the detected immunodominant bands and the successful recovery in treated dogs that can be used for differentiating the treated dogs from the untreated dogs, as well as the markers of a favorable or unfavorable prognosis and, as a consequence, the prediction of the clinical outcome of the disease. Likewise, these data could be helpful in the implementation of novel vaccines from the detected antigens.
Highlights
Leishmaniasis is a group of neglected diseases with a clear endemicity in tropical and subtropical areas, caused by the infection by flagellates’ parasites of the genus Leishmania, which occur in all inhabited continents except Australia and Antarctica [1,2]
Total IgG, IgG1, and IgG2 in all 70 analyzed sera recognized a total of 27 polypeptide fractions of the L. infantum crude antigen, with molecular weights ranging from 10 to 286 kDa
The humoral immune response has no central role in parasite clearance [31,48]; it has a great role in serological diagnosis, since it is expressed by high titers of IgG and IgM levels, which are highly variable before and after treatment [49–54]
Summary
Leishmaniasis is a group of neglected diseases with a clear endemicity in tropical and subtropical areas, caused by the infection by flagellates’ parasites of the genus Leishmania, which occur in all inhabited continents except Australia and Antarctica [1,2]. The public health and zoonotic importance of leishmaniasis is growing [3,5–7]. In this regard, there is a marked increase in the incidence of human infections (co-infection), especially in immunocompromised cases, as in VL/HIV co-infections cases [5–7], and new foci have been reported out of the traditionally endemic areas [6,8]. In accordance with its zoonotic concern, leishmaniasis has two zoonotic forms in Europe: zoonotic CL and zoonotic VL (ZVL) [9]. ZVL, caused by L. infantum, is an endemic form of the disease in all countries of the Mediterranean basin, where VL cases in the area account for approximately 5–6% of the global burden [5,9–11]. Besides being a common life-threatening zoonotic disease, leishmaniasis in dogs is a very complex pathology that is of particular interest to veterinary practitioners [14]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
