| design, synthesis and evaluation of 2,4-diaminoquinazolines as inhibitors of trypanosomal and leishmanial dihydrofolate reductase. | this paper describes the design, synthesis and evaluation of a series of 2,4-diaminoquinazolines as inhibitors of leishmanial and trypanosomal dihydrofolate reductase. compounds were designed by a generating virtual library of compounds and docking them into the enzyme active site. following their synthesis, they were found to be potent and selective inhibitors of leishmanial dihydrofolate reductase. the compounds were also found to have potent activity against trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense, a ... | 2005 | 15755663 |
| immunostimulatory cellular responses of cured leishmania-infected patients and hamsters against the integral membrane proteins and non-membranous soluble proteins of a recent clinical isolate of leishmania donovani. | development of an effective immunoprophylactic agent for visceral leishmaniasis (vl) has become imperative due to the increasing number of cases of drug resistance and relapse. live and killed whole parasites as well as fractionated and recombinant preparations have been evaluated for vaccine potential. however, a successful vaccine against the disease has been elusive. because protective immunity in human and experimental leishmaniasis is predominantly of the th1 type, immunogens with th1 stimu ... | 2005 | 15762886 |
| efficacy of desmodium gangeticum extract and its fractions against experimental visceral leishmaniasis. | crude ethanolic extract of indian medicinal plant, desmodium gangeticum (a001) and its three fractions-hexane (f002), n-butanol (f003) and aqueous (f004) were evaluated chemoprophylactically and chemotherapeutically against experimental visceral leishmaniasis in hamsters. ethanolic extract showed 41.2+/-5.3% inhibition of parasite multiplication when administered at a dose of 250 mg/kgx2 on day -7 and +7 of leishmania donovani challenge. its n-butanol fraction exhibited better efficacy than the ... | 2005 | 15763367 |
| leishmania (viannia) subgenus kdna amplification for the diagnosis of mucosal leishmaniasis. | the utility of 2 polymerase chain reaction (pcr)-based assays amplifying genus or viannia subgenus leishmania minicircle kdna for the diagnostics of ml was assessed. the viannia subgenus product was yielded after pcr from isolates of l. (viannia) braziliensis, l. (viannia) colombiensis, and l. (viannia) guyanensis, whereas no product was obtained with the non-viannia-pertaining species: l. (leishmania) amazonensis, l. (leishmania) donovani, and l. (leishmania) chagasi. with both assays, 11 of 13 ... | 2005 | 15766604 |
| expression, purification, and characterization of leishmania donovani trypanothione reductase in escherichia coli. | trypanothione reductase (tr) is an nadph-dependent flavoprotein oxidoreductase central to thiol metabolism in all the trypanosomatids including leishmania. the unique presence of this enzyme in trypanosomatids and absence in mammalian host make this enzyme an attractive target for the development of the antileishmanials. complete open reading frame encoding trypanothione reductase from leishmania donovani (dd8 strain, causative agent of indian visceral leishmaniasis) was cloned, sequenced, and e ... | 2005 | 15766869 |
| [antiparasitic effect of senegalese annonaceae used in traditional medicine]. | annonaceae is a large family of plants widely used in alimentation and traditional medicine. the interest of their study is raised up by the presence of biologically active substances among that the acetogenins which are specific to them. in senegal, three species are widely used in traditional medicine for various indications and particularly in parasitic diseases: annona senegalensis, uvaria chamae and xylopia aethiopica. the study of antiparasitical extracts from various organs showed an inte ... | 2003 | 15770804 |
| curcumin overcomes the inhibitory effect of nitric oxide on leishmania. | upon leishmania infection, macrophages are activated to produce nitrogen and oxygen radicals simultaneously. it is well established that the infected host cells rely on nitric oxide (no) as the major weapon against the intracellular parasite. in india where leishmaniasis is endemic, the spice turmeric is used prolifically in food and for insect bites. curcumin, the active principle of turmeric, is a scavenger of no. this report shows that curcumin protects promastigotes and amastigotes of the vi ... | 2005 | 15772867 |
| topoisomerase i amino acid substitutions, gly185arg and asp325glu, confer camptothecin resistance in leishmania donovani. | the antitumor compound camptothecin (cpt) is also recognized for its specific activity against leishmania donovani topoisomerase i (topo-i). in consequence, defining cpt resistance mechanisms represents an important strategic tool in the acquisition of a better understanding of its mode of action. in the present study, we selected a single highly resistant l. donovani strain termed ldrcpt.160 by stepwise exposure to cpt. gene sequencing revealed two single nucleotide mutations in the ldrcpt.160 ... | 2005 | 15793124 |
| a2 gene of old world cutaneous leishmania is a single highly conserved functional gene. | leishmaniases are among the most proteiform parasitic infections in humans ranging from unapparent to cutaneous, mucocutaneous or visceral diseases. the various clinical issues depend on complex and still poorly understood mechanisms where both host and parasite factors are interacting. among the candidate factors of parasite virulence are the a2 genes, a family of multiple genes that are developmentally expressed in species of the leishmania donovani group responsible for visceral diseases (vl) ... | 2005 | 15794817 |
| flow cytometric assessment of leishmania spp metacyclic differentiation: validation by morphological features and specific markers. | characterization of infective metacyclic promastigotes of leishmania spp can be an essential step in several experimental protocols. metacyclic forms of all leishmania species display a typical morphology with short, narrow cell body, and an elongated flagellum. this feature suggests that metacyclics can be distinguished from procyclic forms by non-fluorimetric flow cytometric parameters thus enabling the follow-up of their appearance and acquisition of specific properties, during metacyclogenes ... | 2005 | 15804377 |
| dichotomy of protective cellular immune responses to human visceral leishmaniasis. | healing/protective responses in human visceral leishmaniasis (vl) are associated with stimulation/production of th1 cytokines, such as interferon ifn-gamma, and conversion in the leishmanin skin test (lst). such responses were studied for 90 days in 44 adult healthy volunteers from vl non-endemic areas, with no past history of vl/cutaneous leishmaniasis (cl) and lst non-reactivity following injection with one of four doses of alum-precipitated autoclaved leishmania major (alum/alm) +/- bacille c ... | 2005 | 15807861 |
| therapeutic use of quercetin in the control of infection and anemia associated with visceral leishmaniasis. | flavonoids are a broad class of plant phenolics that are known to possess a well-established protective effect against membrane lipoperoxidative damages. oxidative damage of erythrocytes has been implicated in the reduced survival of erythrocytes during leishmanial infection. this study reveals the efficacy of five naturally occurring flavonoids in arresting the development of anemia during the postinfection period. among the compounds studied, quercetin was most successful in inhibiting the oxi ... | 2005 | 15808423 |
| novobiocin induces apoptosis-like cell death in topoisomerase ii over-expressing arsenite resistant leishmania donovani. | leishmaniasis affects millions of people worldwide every year. lack of effective vaccination, co-infection with other dreaded diseases like aids and generation of drug resistant strains demand immediate attention into this neglected area of research. the sodium m-arsenite (naaso2) resistant leishmania donovani used in this study is resistant to 20 microm naaso2, which shows a 13-fold increase in resistance compared with wild type. here we report that the arsenite resistant strain of l. donovani ... | 2005 | 15811527 |
| differentiation of leishmania donovani in host-free system: analysis of signal perception and response. | leishmania donovani are the causative agents of kala-azar in humans. they undergo a developmental program following changes in the environment, resulting in the reversible transformation between the extracellular promastigote form in the sand fly vector and the obligatory intracellular amastigote form in phagolysosomes of macrophages. a host-free differentiation system for l. donovani was used to investigate the initial process of promastigote to amastigote differentiation. within an hour after ... | 2005 | 15811531 |
| prevention of relapse after chemotherapy in a chronic intracellular infection: mechanisms in experimental visceral leishmaniasis. | in visceral leishmaniasis, chemotherapy probably seldom eradicates all parasites in tissue macrophages; nevertheless, most t cell-intact patients show long-lasting clinical cure after treatment despite residual intracellular infection. to characterize prevention of posttreatment relapse, amphotericin b was used to kill approximately 90-95% of leishmania donovani in livers of mice deficient in mechanisms of acquired antileishmanial resistance. recrudescence subsequently developed 1) in animals de ... | 2005 | 15814719 |
| osteolytic osteomyelitis associated with visceral leishmaniasis in a dog. | a dog was examined with a history of weight loss and lameness of the left hind limb. a painful response to examination of the left hip joint, and lymphadenopathy were noted. amastigote forms of leishmania sp. were observed by cytology in samples from the popliteus lymph node, and anti-leishmania sp. antibodies at a titer of 1:640 were detected in serum by indirect immunofluorescence. radiological changes included osteolysis and a periosteal proliferative reaction in the left femoral greater troc ... | 2005 | 15817202 |
| immunomodulatory activity of analog of muramyl dipeptide and their use as adjunct to chemotherapy of leishmania donovani in hamster. | in search of a potent immunomodulator to be used as an immunoprophylactic agent and as adjunct to chemotherapy against leishmania infection, two analogs of muramyl dipeptide, viz. n.ac-normur-meval-d-isogln (86/448) and n.acmur-acc-d-isogln (89/729) were evaluated for desired activity. effect of these peptides on cell mediated and humoral immunity was studied by immunizing the peptide treated mouse with sheep red blood cells (srbc) and determining ha-titer, plaque forming cells assay and delayed ... | 2005 | 15829410 |
| [cloning and sequence analysis of the ribosomal dna its gene of leishmania donovani isolates from hill foci of china]. | to determine the nucleotide sequence of the its (internal transcribed spacer) gene of leishmania donovani isolates from hill foci (l. d. sc10 and l. d. 6), and to find out the difference of the gene sequences between the two isolates. | 2004 | 15830885 |
| applications of molecular methods for leishmania control. | this article reviews the recent advances made in the field of human leishmaniasis. special emphasis is placed upon the application of various molecular tools for accurate and rapid diagnosis, understanding the mechanisms of drug resistance and identification of vaccine candidates. the focus will be on the major role played by recombinant antigens in the immunoserodiagnosis and progress of the leishmania genome project, which has enabled researchers to design better pcr primers and molecular prob ... | 2005 | 15833054 |
| biphenylquinuclidines as inhibitors of squalene synthase and growth of parasitic protozoa. | in this paper we describe the preparation of some biphenylquinuclidine derivatives and their evaluation as inhibitors of squalene synthase in order to explore their potential in the treatment of the parasitic diseases leishmaniasis and chagas disease. the compounds were screened against recombinant leishmania major squalene synthase and against leishmania mexicana promastigotes, leishmania donovani intracellular amastigotes and trypanosoma cruzi intracellular amastigotes. compounds that inhibite ... | 2005 | 15848765 |
| leishmania major encodes an unusual peroxidase that is a close homologue of plant ascorbate peroxidase: a novel role of the transmembrane domain. | haem-containing enzymes (peroxidase and catalase) are widely distributed among prokaryotes and eukaryotes and play a vital role in h2o2 detoxification. but, to date, no haem-containing enzymatic defence against toxic h2o2 has been discovered in leishmania species. we cloned, expressed and purified an unusual plant-like apx (ascorbate peroxidase) from leishmania major (lmapx) and characterized its catalytic parameters under steady-state conditions. examination of its protein sequence indicated ap ... | 2005 | 15850459 |
| evaluation of antiprotozoal and plasmodial enoyl-acp reductase inhibition potential of turkish medicinal plants. | a total of 58 extracts of different polarity were prepared from various organs of 16 species of turkish plants and screened for their antitrypanosomal, antileishmanial and antiplasmodial activities. no significant activity was observed against trypanosoma cruzi, whereas many extracts showed appreciable trypanocidal potential against t. brucei rhodesiense, with the chcl(3)-soluble portion of phlomis kurdica being the most active (ic(50) 2.7 microg[sol ]ml). almost all extracts, particularly the c ... | 2005 | 15852483 |
| effect of lack and kmp11 on ifn-gamma production by peripheral blood mononuclear cells from cutaneous and mucosal leishmaniasis patients. | the immune modulatory properties of recombinant antigens kinetoplasmid membrane protein-11 (kmp11) and leishmania homologue of receptors for activated c kinase (lack) in cutaneous leishmaniasis (cl) and mucosal leishmaniasis (ml) patients were evaluated. the mean levels of interferon-gamma (ifn-gamma) in soluble leishmania antigen (sla) stimulated peripheral blood mononuclear cells (pbmc) of ml and cl patients were 5625 +/- 2333 pg/ml and 4422 +/- 3665 pg/ml, respectively. ifn-gamma was not dete ... | 2005 | 15853916 |
| a novel semiquantitative fluorescence-based multiplex polymerase chain reaction assay for rapid simultaneous detection of bacterial and parasitic pathogens from blood. | a multiplex polymerase chain reaction assay was developed for the rapid simultaneous detection of category a select bacterial agents (bacillus anthracis and yersinia pestis) and parasitic pathogens (leishmania species) in blood using the cepheid smart cycler platform. b. anthracis (sterne) and yersinia. pseudotuberculosis were used in the assay for optimization for b. anthracis and y. pestis, respectively. the specificity of the target amplicons [protective antigen gene of b. anthracis and rrna ... | 2005 | 15858151 |
| characterization of the dna-binding domain and identification of the active site residue in the 'gyr a' half of leishmania donovani topoisomerase ii. | dna topoisomerase ii is a multidomain homodimeric enzyme that changes dna topology by coupling atp hydrolysis to the transport of one dna helix through a transient double-stranded break in another. to investigate the biochemical properties of the individual domains of leishmania donovani topoisomerase ii, four truncation mutants were generated. deletion of 178 aminoacids from the c-terminus (core and lddeltac1058) had no apparent effect on the dna-binding or cleavage activities of the enzymes. h ... | 2005 | 15860773 |
| stage-specific expression of the mitochondrial co-chaperonin of leishmania donovani, cpn10. | background: leishmania spp., in the course of their parasitic life cycle, encounter two vastly different environments: the gut of sandflies and the phagosomes of mammalian macrophages. during transmission into a mammal, the parasites are exposed to increased ambient temperature as well as to different carbon sources. molecular chaperones or heat shock proteins are implicated in the necessary adaptations which involve the ordered differentiation from the flagellated, extracellular promastigote to ... | 2005 | 15862128 |
| development of a modified mtt assay for screening antimonial resistant field isolates of indian visceral leishmaniasis. | the semi-automated mtt colorimetric assay has previously been applied on leishmania promastigotes based on the ability of viable parasites to reduce the tetrazolium salt to an insoluble formazan product. as promastigotes are non-adherent, application of the mtt assay in its original form has a major drawback of a high and variable background absorbance due to incomplete removal of phenol red, a component of most media. we have accordingly optimised a modified mtt assay wherein the absorbance lin ... | 2005 | 15866473 |
| refractoriness to the treatment of sodium stibogluconate in indian kala-azar field isolates persist in in vitro and in vivo experimental models. | ever since their discovery about 60 years ago as therapeutic agent for visceral leishmaniasis (vl) or kala-azar, pentavalent antimonials (sb(v)) have remained the first line treatment of choice all over the world including india. but recently, the number of kala-azar patients unresponsive to sodium stibogluconate (ssg) therapy, is steadily increasing in india. in this study, three clinical isolates, of which two were from ssg unresponsive and one from ssg responsive patients were evaluated for t ... | 2005 | 15868188 |
| synthesis, antimalarial, antileishmanial, and antimicrobial activities of some 8-quinolinamine analogues. | in the present communication, newly synthesized 8-quinolinamines (25-27) related to previously reported 2-tert-butylprimaquine (2) were evaluated for their in vitro antimalarial activity against chloroquine sensitive and resistant plasmodium falciparum strains, in vivo antimalarial activity against p. berghei infected mice, in vitro antileishmanial activity against leishmania donovani, in vitro antimicrobial activity against various fungi and bacteria, and cytotoxicity in a panel of mammalian ce ... | 2005 | 15878667 |
| efficacy of picroliv in combination with miltefosine, an orally effective antileishmanial drug against experimental visceral leishmaniasis. | visceral leishmaniasis (vl) or kala-azar continues to persist as one of the major public health problems in many tropical countries. however, no effective treatment for radical cure of the disease is yet available. miltefosine, an alkyl phospholipid compound, is the first orally effective drug, which has shown 98% cure rate of vl patients during phase iii clinical trial in india. since this drug requires long course of treatment and has long half-life, there are fairly good chances of emergence ... | 2005 | 15895483 |
| antiparasitic activity of a triphenyl tin complex against leishmania donovani. | visceral leishmaniasis is a life-threatening human disease commonly known as kala-azar. leishmania donovani is the causative agent of this parasitic disease transmitted by the sand fly vector to infect hosts. triphenyl tin salicylanilide thiosemicarbazone [ph(3)sn(osal.tsczh)] (ttst) which is an organometallic complex of triphenyl tin has been evaluated to explore possibility to develop a potent chemotherapeutic agent against visceral leishmaniasis. effect of triphenyl tin complex on growth inhi ... | 2005 | 15896700 |
| a heterologous prime-boost vaccination regimen using orff dna and recombinant orff protein confers protective immunity against experimental visceral leishmaniasis. | we describe the effectiveness of a prime-boost vaccination regimen using the open-reading frame (orff) gene from the ld1 locus of leishmania donovani. | 2005 | 15898000 |
| [spontaneous rupture of the spleen in a patient with visceral leishmaniasis]. | | 2005 | 15899186 |
| characterization of the atpase activity of topoisomerase ii from leishmania donovani and identification of residues conferring resistance to etoposide. | we have cloned and expressed the 43 kda n-terminal domain of leishmania donovani topoisomerase ii. this protein has an intrinsic atpase activity and obeys michaelis-menten kinetics. cross-linking studies indicate that the n-terminal domain exists as a dimer both in the presence and absence of nucleotides. etoposide, an effective antitumour drug, traps eukaryotic dna topoisomerase ii in a covalent complex with dna. in the present study, we report for the first time that etoposide inhibits the atp ... | 2005 | 15901238 |
| kinetoplastid membrane protein-11 dna vaccination induces complete protection against both pentavalent antimonial-sensitive and -resistant strains of leishmania donovani that correlates with inducible nitric oxide synthase activity and il-4 generation: evidence for mixed th1- and th2-like responses in visceral leishmaniasis. | the emergence of an increasing number of leishmania donovani strains resistant to pentavalent antimonials (sbv), the first line of treatment for visceral leishmaniasis worldwide, accounts for decreasing efficacy of chemotherapeutic interventions. a kinetoplastid membrane protein-11 (kmp-11)-encoding construct protected extremely susceptible golden hamsters from both pentavalent antimony responsive (ag83) and antimony resistant (ge1f8r) virulent l. donovani challenge. all the kmp-11 dna vaccinate ... | 2005 | 15905560 |
| chemotherapy of leishmaniasis part ii: synthesis and bioevaluation of substituted arylketene dithioacetals as antileishmanial agents. | some novel aryl substituted ketene dithioacetals have been synthesized using novel synthetic methods. the compounds were screened against leishmania donovani in hamsters for their activity profile. some of the compounds inhibited 50-65% parasite growth at 50 mg kg(-1) x 5 days. | 2005 | 15907348 |
| leishmanicidal cycloartane-type triterpene glycosides from astragalus oleifolius. | two new cycloartane-type glycosides oleifoliosides a (1) and b (2) were isolated from the lower stem parts of astragalus oleifolius. their structures were identified as 3-o-[beta-xylopyranosyl-(1 --> 2)-alpha-arabinopyranosyl]-6-o-beta-xylopyranosyl-3beta,6alpha,16beta,24(s),25-pentahydroxycycloartane and 3-o-[beta-xylopyranosyl-(1 --> 2)-alpha-arabinopyranosyl]-6-o-beta-glucopyranosyl-3beta,6alpha,16beta,24(s),25-pentahydroxycycloartane, respectively, by means of spectroscopic methods (ir, 1d a ... | 2005 | 15922377 |
| leishmania donovani amastigotes mobilize organic and inorganic osmolytes during regulatory volume decrease. | the protozoan parasite leishmania donovani encounters large fluctuations in osmolality as it cycles between its insect vector and human host. the flagellated promastigote exhibits regulatory volume responses involving organic and inorganic osmolytes, but little is known about volume regulation in the clinically relevant amastigote that multiplies within the parasitophorous vacuoles of mammalian host cells. using a combination of morphological, x-ray microanalytical, and biochemical approaches we ... | 2005 | 15927005 |
| peroxin 5-peroxin 14 association in the protozoan leishmania donovani involves a novel protein-protein interaction motif. | import of proteins with a pts1 (peroxisomal targeting signal 1) into the leishmania glycosomal organelle involves docking of a pts1-laden ldpex5 [leishmania donovani pex5 (peroxin 5)] receptor to ldpex14 on the surface of the glycosomal membrane. in higher eukaryotes, the pex5-pex14 interaction is mediated by a conserved diaromatic wxxxy/f motif. site-directed and deletion mutageneses of the three wxxxy/f repeats in ldpex5 did not abolish the ldpex5-ldpex14 association. analysis of the equilibri ... | 2005 | 15929724 |
| evaluation of a dot-immunoblot assay for detecting leishmanial antigen in naturally infected phlebotomus argentipes (diptera: psychodidae). | a simple and highly reproducible dot-immunoblot assay was developed to detect leishmanial antigen in phlebotomus argentipes that were naturally infected with leishmania donovani. the test was sensitive to as little as 10 ng of antigenic protein (equivalent to the gut content of one laboratory-infected sandfly) and also appeared to be specific, in that it gave a positive result with some p. argentipes (the primary vector of l. donovani in india) and l. donovani but not with p. papatasi or other p ... | 2005 | 15949184 |
| modulation of leishmania donovani infection and cell viability by testosterone in bone marrow-derived macrophages: signaling via surface binding sites. | androgens can increase susceptibility toward numerous parasitic infections as well as modulate apoptosis of immune cells. according to the current view, androgens mediate immune cell activities not only through classical intracellular androgen receptors (ar), but also through membrane receptors on the cell surface. here, using murine bone marrow-derived macrophages (bmms), we examined the influence of testosterone on leishmania donovani infection and cell viability in vitro as well as the possib ... | 2005 | 15964042 |
| localized cutaneous leishmaniasis due to leishmania donovani and leishmania tropica: preliminary findings of the study of 161 new cases from a new endemic focus in himachal pradesh, india. | localized cutaneous leishmaniasis (lcl) in india is due mostly to leishmania tropica. it is mainly endemic in the deserts of rajasthan. recently, himachal pradesh has been identified as a new endemic focus for the disease. in the last few years, the number of new cases has been increasing almost to epidemic proportions. this report presents the preliminary findings of clinico-epidemiologic and investigative results of 161 new localized cases of lcl seen between may 2001 and december 2003. the st ... | 2005 | 15964970 |
| antagonizing deactivating cytokines to enhance host defense and chemotherapy in experimental visceral leishmaniasis. | in experimental visceral leishmaniasis, inhibition of interleukin 10 (il-10) signaling enhances th1-cell-associated responses, promoting gamma interferon (ifn-gamma) secretion, granuloma assembly, macrophage activation with substantial liver parasite killing, and synergy with pentavalent antimony (sb) chemotherapy. to determine if inhibiting other suppressive cytokines has similar therapeutic potential, leishmania donovani-infected balb/c mice were injected with anti-il-4 monoclonal antibody or ... | 2005 | 15972476 |
| a type ii ribonuclease h from leishmania mitochondria: an enzyme essential for the growth of the parasite. | replication of kdna in the mitochondrion of the kinetoplastid protozoan is an essential process. one of the proteins that may be required for the kdna replication is the ribonuclease h (rnase h; ec 3.1.26.4). we have identified four distinct ribonuclease h genes in leishmania, one type i (lrnase hi) and three type ii (lrnase hiia, lrnase hiib and lrnase hiic). we detail here molecular characterization of lrnase hiic. the coding sequence of lrnase hiic is 1425 bp in length encoding a 474-amino ac ... | 2005 | 15978682 |
| alteration of fatty acid and sterol metabolism in miltefosine-resistant leishmania donovani promastigotes and consequences for drug-membrane interactions. | miltefosine (hexadecylphosphocholine [hepc]) is the first orally active drug approved for the treatment of visceral leishmaniasis. in order to investigate the biochemical modifications occurring in hepc-resistant (hepc-r) leishmania donovani promastigotes, taking into account the lipid nature of hepc, we investigated their fatty acid and sterol metabolisms. we found that the content of unsaturated phospholipid alkyl chains was lower in hepc-r parasite plasma membranes than in those of the wild t ... | 2005 | 15980336 |
| proteasome-mediated degradation of stat1alpha following infection of macrophages with leishmania donovani. | activation of the janus-activated kinase 2 (jak2)/stat1alpha signaling pathway is repressed in leishmania-infected macrophages. this represents an important mechanism by which this parasite subverts the microbicidal functions of the cell to promote its own survival and propagation. we recently provided evidence that the protein tyrosine phosphatase (ptp) shp-1 was responsible for jak2 inactivation. however, stat1 translocation to the nucleus was not restored in the absence of shp-1. in the prese ... | 2005 | 15983048 |
| influence of phospholipid composition on the adjuvanticity and protective efficacy of liposome-encapsulated leishmania donovani antigens. | in this study, we evaluate the effect of phospholipid on the adjuvanicity and protective efficacy of liposome vaccine carriers against visceral leishmaniasis (vl) in a hamster model. liposomes prepared with distearyol derivative of l-alpha-phosphatidyl choline (dspc) having liquid crystalline transition temperature (tc) 54 c were as efficient as dipalmitoyl (dppc) (tc 41 c) and dimyristoyl (dmpc) (tc 23 c) derivatives in their ability to entrap leishmania donovani membrane antigens (lag) and to ... | 2005 | 15986599 |
| the molecular characterization of clinical isolates from indian kala-azar patients by mlee and rapd-pcr. | kala-azar is a serious health problem in india. the situation has worsened further due to the occurrence of cases unresponsive to antimonials. about 30-50% patients do not respond to the prevailing regimen of antimonials. the etiological agent for indian kala-azar has long been known to be leishmania donovani. recently, in a somewhat startling report, it was claimed that l. tropica causes nearly 25% of current kala-azar cases in india. it was also suggested that this might be in some way related ... | 2005 | 15990683 |
| imiquimod 5% cream (aldara). | imiquimod is a novel synthetic molecule with potent immune-modifying activities. formulated in a 5% vanishing cream as aldara, this self-applied therapy has shown good efficacy and safety in the treatment of external genital and perianal warts caused by human papillomavirus (hpv) infection (condyloma acuminata). the molecule does not demonstrate direct antiviral activity, but through induction of cytokines results in immune-based resolution of wart tissue and reduction of viral burden. phase iii ... | 1998 | 15991984 |
| evaluation of pcr for diagnosis of indian kala-azar and assessment of cure. | this study was done to evaluate pcr with ld1 primers for the diagnosis of indian visceral leishmaniasis (vl) and to assess its role in prediction of the disease outcome. the pcr assay was performed with dna isolated from the peripheral blood of parasitologically confirmed cases of vl before the initiation of treatment, just after the end of treatment, and at 3 and 6 months of follow-up. the pretreatment pcr result was positive for 100 of 101 patients (sensitivity, 99%; confidence interval [ci], ... | 2005 | 16000412 |
| analysis of ribosomal dna internal transcribed spacer sequences of the leishmania donovani complex. | to understand phylogenetic relationships of species and strains within the leishmania donovani complex, we have analyzed the ribosomal dna internal transcribed spacer (its) sequences of 27 leishmania infantum, 2 leishmania chagasi, 18 l. donovani and 5 leishmania archibaldi strains of different zymodemes and geographical origin. eight its sequence types were found. all detected sequence variation within its1 and its2 was based on 12 polymorphic microsatellites. the l. infantum strains from the m ... | 2005 | 16002315 |
| 18 beta-glycyrrhetinic acid triggers curative th1 response and nitric oxide up-regulation in experimental visceral leishmaniasis associated with the activation of nf-kappa b. | the efficacy of 18beta-glycyrrhetinic acid (gra), a pentacyclic triterpene belonging to the beta-amyrin series of plant origin, was evaluated in experimental visceral leishmaniasis. gra is reported to have antitumor and immunoregulatory activities, which may be attributable in part to the induction of no. indeed, an 11-fold increase in no production was observed with 20 microm gra in mouse peritoneal macrophages infected with leishmania donovani promastigotes. in addition to having appreciable i ... | 2005 | 16002718 |
| leishmune vaccine blocks the transmission of canine visceral leishmaniasis: absence of leishmania parasites in blood, skin and lymph nodes of vaccinated exposed dogs. | leishmune vaccine is the first licensed vaccine against canine visceral leishmaniasis. it contains the fucose-mannose-ligand (fml) antigen of leishmania donovani. the potential leishmune vaccine effect on the interruption of the transmission of the disease, was assayed by monitoring, in untreated (n=40) and vaccinated dogs (n=32) of a brazilian epidemic area: the kala-azar clinical signs, the fml-seropositivity and the leishmania parasite evidence by immunohistochemistry of skin and pcr for leis ... | 2005 | 16011864 |
| [cloning and sequence analysis of its gene of leishmania donovani isolates from different epidemic foci in china]. | this study was directed to determine the nucleotide sequence of the its (internal transcribed spacer) gene of leishmania donovani isolates from desert foci (l. d xj771), hill foci (l. d sc10) and plain foci (l. d sd2), and to find out the differences of the sequences of its gene among these three isolates. the specific its fragments from nuclear dna of three leishmania isolates were amplified by pcr, cloned into pmd18-t vector, and then sequenced by the dideoxy chain termination method. sequence ... | 2005 | 16013255 |
| evaluation of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay using crude leishmania and recombinant antigens as a diagnostic marker for canine visceral leishmaniasis. | the performances of elisa assays with different antigen preparations, such as leishmania amazonensis or l. chagasi lysates and the recombinant antigens rk-39 and rk-26, were compared using sera or eluates from dried blood collected on filter paper to detect anti-leishmania antibodies in dogs from a visceral leishmaniasis-endemic area in brazil. of 115 ifat-reactive dogs at 1:40 titre, 106 (92.2%) were positive in parasitological exams (skin and/or spleen). these animals were compared to healthy ... | 2005 | 16021309 |
| characterization of the redox components of transplasma membrane electron transport system from leishmania donovani promastigotes. | an investigation has been made of the points of coupling of four nonpermeable electron acceptors e.g., alpha-lipoic acid (ala), 5,5'-dithiobis (2-nitroaniline-n-sulphonic acid) (dtns), 1,2-naphthoquinone-4-sulphonic acid (nqsa) and ferricyanide which are mainly reduced via an interaction with the redox sites present in the plasma membrane of leishmania donovani promastigotes. ala, dtns, nqsa and ferricyanide reduction and part of o2 reduction is shown to take place on the exoplasmic face of the ... | 2005 | 16023297 |
| leishmania donovani: effect of therapy on expression of cd2 antigen and secretion of macrophage migration inhibition factor by t-cells in patients with visceral leishmaniasis. | visceral leishmaniasis (vl) commonly known as kala-azar in india is one of the several clinically important infections, where th1 sub-population of cd4+ t-cells, despite a pre-requisite, fails to express macrophage migration inhibition factor (mif) and interferon-gamma which both activate the macrophage and coordinate the immune response to intra-cellular leishmania sp. expression of cd2 receptors before and after antileishmanial therapy on cd4+ t-cells of vl patients and their corresponding eff ... | 2005 | 16023642 |
| a novel homologue of coronin colocalizes with actin in filament-like structures in leishmania. | the presence of actin in leishmania has recently been demonstrated, but the functional form of this protein (filamentous actin) has not yet been identified. we report here that the putative coronin homologue identified in the leishmania genome is invariably associated with the filament-like structures of actin in leishmania promastigotes. the occurrence of filamentous structures is significantly increased upon overexpression of leishmania coronin as its gfp fusion product in leishmania cells. ho ... | 2005 | 16024104 |
| fluorogenic assay for molecular typing of the leishmania donovani complex: taxonomic and clinical applications. | we describe a new fluorogenic assay for the identification of species and intraspecies groups within the leishmania donovani complex. the assay combined (1) 2 polymerase chain reactions targeting the 2 cysteine proteinase b isogenes and (2) a fluorescence-resonance energy transfer/melting curve analysis of the polymorphisms within a 31-nt region. all strains within the l. donovani complex were distinguished from l. tropica, l. major, and l. aethiopica, and 5 distinct groups were identified withi ... | 2005 | 16028139 |
| targeted delivery of arjunglucoside i using surface hydrophilic and hydrophobic nanocarriers to combat experimental leishmaniasis. | the purpose of the present study was to investigate the therapeutic efficacy of the indigenous drug arjunglucoside i (ag) against in vivo models of experimental leishmaniasis by incorporating it in surface hydrophilic co-polymeric nanogel particles of size less than 100 nm diameter and to compare its efficacy with that of the free drug as well as the drug encapsulated in hydrophobic poly-dl-lactide (pla) nanoparticles. the drug ag, having glucose at the terminal end of the glycosidic chain, was ... | 2005 | 16036304 |
| remote sensing and geographic information systems and risk of american visceral leishmaniasis in bahia, brazil. | the spatial distribution of american visceral leishmaniasis (vl) was studied within the context of the environmental characteristics of northwest bahia state in brazil during an epidemic year. geographic information systems (gis) and remote sensing (rs) were used to characterize the landscape epidemiology of vl in order to identify and map high risk areas and endemic zones in a northwestern bahia study area. normalized difference vegetation index (ndvi) was shown to be one of the most important ... | 2005 | 16044686 |
| host humoral immune response to leishmania lipid-binding protein. | summary we report on the use of leishmania donovani lipid-binding proteins (lbps) as antigens capable of being recognized by serum from immunocompetent patients from southern spain suffering from visceral leishmaniasis and from peruvian patients with localized cutaneous leishmaniasis caused by leishmania braziliensis. the absorbance found by immunoenzymatic techniques gave significantly different results for the serum samples from patients with and without leishmaniasis. specificity by elisa tes ... | 2005 | 16048642 |
| visceral leishmaniasis and pseudomonas septicemia associated with hemophagocytic syndrome and myelodysplasia in a turkish child. | an 18-month-old boy presented with fever, hepatosplenomegaly, jaundice, pancytopenia, hyperferritinemia, hypertriglyceridemia and evidence of hemophagocytosis and trilineage myelodysplasia in the bone marrow aspiration. appropriate treatment was begun but he died after 12 hours of hospitalization due to gram-negative septicemia. post-mortem examination of liver biopsy revealed diffuse hemaphagocytic lymphohistiocytosis and leishmania-donovani bodies in macrophages. | 2005 | 16052865 |
| aluminium phosphate potentiates the efficacy of dna vaccines against leishmania mexicana. | dna vaccines have been able to induce partial protection against infection with leishmania in mice, but it is still necessary to increase their efficacy. in the present study we evaluated aluminium phosphate as an adjuvant of different formulations and doses of dna vaccines against l. mexicana in balb/c mice. aluminium phosphate had no effect on the humoral response induced by a high dose (100 microg) dna vaccine, but slightly increased the cellular response and the protection against infection. ... | 2005 | 16054271 |
| leishmania donovani lipophosphoglycan disrupts phagosome microdomains in j774 macrophages. | clearance of pathogens by phagocytosis and their killing in phagolysosomes is a key aspect of our innate ability to fight infectious agents. leishmania parasites have evolved ways to survive and replicate in macrophages by inhibiting phagosome maturation and avoiding the harsh environment of phagolysosomes. we describe here that during this process leishmania donovani uses a novel strategy involving its surface lipophosphoglycan (lpg), a virulence factor impeding many host functions, to prevent ... | 2005 | 16098214 |
| glycolipids and other constituents from desmodium gangeticum with antileishmanial and immunomodulatory activities. | nineteen compounds of various classes, such as flavonoid glycosides, pterocarpanoids, lipids, glycolipids, and alkaloids, were isolated and identified from the desmodium gangeticum whole plant. aminoglucosyl glycerolipid (8) is reported here for the first time. its structure has been elucidated by spectroscopic and degradation studies. this novel compound exhibited in vitro antileishmanial and immunomodulatory activities, as it enhanced nitric oxide (no) production and provided resistance agains ... | 2005 | 16099649 |
| design and synthesis of a series of melamine-based nitroheterocycles with activity against trypanosomatid parasites. | the parasites that give rise to human african trypanosomiasis (hat) are auxotrophs for various nutrients from the human host, including purines. they have specialist nucleoside transporters to import these metabolites. in addition to uptake of purine nucleobases and purine nucleosides, one of these transporters, the p2 transporter, can carry melamine derivatives; these derivatives are not substrates for the corresponding mammalian transporters. in this paper, we report the coupling of the melami ... | 2005 | 16107157 |
| leishmania donovani affects antigen presentation of macrophage by disrupting lipid rafts. | leishmania donovani-infected splenic macrophages and p388d1 (p388d1(i)) failed to activate t cells in response to low dose of exogenous peptide. the membrane fluidity of p388d1(i) was greater than that of the normal counterpart p388d1(n), but could be reduced either by exposing the cell below phase transition point or by loading cholesterol into membrane (l-p388d1(i)), and this was associated with enhanced ag-presenting ability of p388d1(i). presentation of endogenous leishmanial ag, kinetoplast ... | 2005 | 16116212 |
| a neglected disease of humans: a new focus of visceral leishmaniasis in bakool, somalia. | visceral leishmaniasis (vl) was observed in children in bakool region, somalia, an area where vl has not been reported before. we describe the extent of the problem in this war- and famine-stricken area. a retrospective analysis was done of all cases admitted to a vl treatment centre between july 2000 and august 2001. patients with longstanding fever, splenomegaly and a positive direct agglutination test (dat; titre > 1:3200) were treated as suspected vl cases. a rapid epidemiological and entomo ... | 2003 | 16117959 |
| t cell subset and cytokine profiles in human visceral leishmaniasis during active and asymptomatic or sub-clinical infection with leishmania donovani. | during an epidemiological study of visceral leishmaniasis (vl) in south-west ethiopia, 33 vl patients, 9 treated vl patients, 14 individuals with sub-clinical infection, 34 individuals with asymptomatic infection, and 19 healthy controls were studied for t cell subsets and cytokine profiles. negative leishmanin skin test, cd3 and cd4 lymphocytopenia, and significantly reduced numbers of memory cd4+ t cells were found in vl patients compared to treated vl patients or persons with self-limiting as ... | 2005 | 16125466 |
| magnitude of unresponsiveness to sodium stibogluconate in the treatment of visceral leishmaniasis in bihar. | the indian government proposes to eliminate kala-azar, which has been a serious public health problem in bihar. this study aimed to assess the magnitude of unresponsiveness to sodium stibogluconate in the treatment of new cases of visceral leishmaniasis and to identify the associated factors. | 2005 | 16130613 |
| use of leishmania donovani field isolates expressing the luciferase reporter gene in in vitro drug screening. | currently available primary screens for the selection of candidate antileishmanial compounds are not ideal. these techniques are time-consuming, laborious, and difficult to scale and require macrophages, which limit their use for high-throughput screening. we have developed leishmania donovani field isolates that constitutively express the firefly luciferase reporter gene (luc) as a part of an episomal vector. an excellent correlation between parasite number and luciferase activity was observed. ... | 2005 | 16131481 |
| resistance mechanism development to the topoisomerase-i inhibitor hoechst 33342 by leishmania donovani. | the bisbenzimidazole compound hoechst 33342 (ho342) has been identified as a specific topoisomerase-i (topo-i) inhibitor in mammalian cells. more recently, we have reported the ability of ho342 to target l. donovani topo-i, leading to parasite growth inhibition in vitro by mechanisms involving dna breakage and apoptosis-like phenomenon. as the ho342 lead molecule (2,5'-bi-1h-benzimidazole) can be used as a starting structure for derivative compounds more effective against leishmania, defining th ... | 2005 | 16145936 |
| altered tubulin dynamics, localization and post-translational modifications in sodium arsenite resistant leishmania donovani in response to paclitaxel, trifluralin and a combination of both and induction of apoptosis-like cell death. | in this study the anti-leishmanial activity and anti-microtubule effects of paclitaxel, trifluralin and a combination of paclitaxel and trifluralin have been tested in a wild type and sodium arsenite-resistant strain of leishmania donovani. both paclitaxel and trifluralin have been shown to be effective in limiting parasite growth. specific alterations in morphology, tubulin polymerization dynamics, post-translational modifications and cellular distribution of the tubulins have been confirmed to ... | 2005 | 16145938 |
| antileishmanial activity and immune modulatory effects of tannins and related compounds on leishmania parasitised raw 264.7 cells. | the antileishmanial and immunomodulatory potencies of a total of 67 tannins and structurally related compounds were evaluated in terms of extra- and intra-cellular leishmanicidal effects and macrophage activation for release of nitric oxide (no), tumour necrosis factor (tnf) and interferon (ifn)-like activities. their effects on macrophage functions were further assessed by expression analysis (inos, ifn-alpha, ifn-gamma, tnf-alpha, il-1, il-10, il-12, il-18). with few exceptions, e.g., caffeic ... | 2005 | 16153409 |
| microculture for the isolation of leishmania parasites from cutaneous lesions -- sri lankan experience. | novy, mcneal and nicolle (nnn) medium and evans' modified tobie's medium are two conventional media for the isolation of leishmania parasites in in-vitro cultures. both are biphasic, with a solid layer of blood agar, and are normally prepared in glass test-tubes. in sri lanka at least, a monophasic microcapillary culture, based solely on rpmi 1640 medium supplemented with foetal calf serum, has been found simpler, more economical and more sensitive, for the isolation of l. donovani from skin les ... | 2005 | 16156970 |
| characterization of the gene encoding glyoxalase ii from leishmania donovani: a potential target for anti-parasite drugs. | the glyoxalase system is a ubiquitous detoxification pathway that protects against cellular damage caused by highly reactive oxoaldehydes such as methylglyoxal which is mainly formed as a by-product of glycolysis. the gene encoding gloii (glyoxalase ii) has been cloned from leishmania donovani, a protozoan parasite that causes visceral leishmaniasis. dna sequence analysis revealed an orf (open reading frame) of approximately 888 bp that encodes a putative 295-amino-acid protein with a calculated ... | 2006 | 16159313 |
| analogues of thiolactomycin as potential antimalarial agents. | analogues of the natural antibiotic thiolactomycin (tlm), an inhibitor of the condensing reactions of type ii fatty acid synthase, were synthesized and evaluated for their ability to inhibit the growth of the malaria parasite plasmodium falciparum. alkylation of the c4 hydroxyl group led to the most significant increase in growth inhibition (over a 100-fold increase in activity compared to tlm). to investigate the mode of action, the p. falciparum kasiii enzyme was produced for inhibitor assay. ... | 2005 | 16161997 |
| deoxyuridine triphosphate nucleotidohydrolase as a potential antiparasitic drug target. | this paper describes a structure-activity study to identify novel, small-molecule inhibitors of the enzyme deoxyuridine 5'-triphosphate nucleotidohydrolase (dutpase) from parasitic protozoa. the successful synthesis of a variety of analogues of dump is described in which the substituents are introduced at the 3'- and 5'-positions, together with variation in the heteroatom at the 5'-position. the compounds were assayed against recombinant plasmodium falciparum and leishmania major enzymes and the ... | 2005 | 16161998 |
| vaccination of balb/c mice with leishmania donovani derived lipophosphoglycan does not conver cross-protection to l. major infections. | to determine whether leishmania donovani-derived lipophosphoglycan (lpg) can confer cross-protection to l. major in susceptible balb/c mice model. | 2003 | 16167742 |
| synthesis and in vitro antileishmanial activity of 5-substituted-2'-deoxyuridine derivatives. | we report herein the synthesis and the in vitro antileishmanial evaluation of 5-substituted-2'-deoxyuridine nucleosides. the most active compound against leishmania donovani promastigotes was thia-du (3a) with an ic50 =3 microm. this compound exhibited the same activity as zidovudine (3'-azido-2'-deoxythymidine) used as nucleoside reference compound. considering the cytotoxicity of synthetic compounds on peritoneal murine macrophages, the most toxic compound was methio-du (3d) with a mtc at 10 m ... | 2005 | 16168460 |
| cloning, expression, and purification of a novel recombinant antigen from leishmania donovani. | visceral leishmaniasis (vl) is a major health problem in the tropical and subtropical regions of the world. the conventional methods for diagnosis of old world visceral leishmaniasis are difficult, insensitive, and hazardous. there is no recombinant antigen from old world leishmania species which can be commercially used for rapid diagnosis. there is an urgent need for a less invasive and accurate method. here, we report a recombinant antigen from indian leishmania donovani for its diagnosis. th ... | 2006 | 16172002 |
| live nonpathogenic parasitic vector as a candidate vaccine against visceral leishmaniasis. | to date, there are no proven vaccines against any form of leishmaniasis. the development of live attenuated vectors shows promise in the field of leishmania vaccination because these organisms mimic more effectively the course of real infections and can elicit potent activation of the immune system. in the present study, we investigated the potential of a parasitic protozoan that is nonpathogenic to humans, leishmania tarentolae, as a live candidate vaccine that efficiently targets dendritic cel ... | 2005 | 16177308 |
| identification of new antigens in visceral leishmaniasis by expression cloning and immunoblotting with sera of kala-azar patients from bihar, india. | sera of kala-azar patients from bihar, india, were used to identify leishmania donovani antigens encoded by a phage expression library. ten antigens were identified, five of which have not been described as leishmania antigens before. the antigens specifically react with sera of leishmania-infected patients but not of toxoplasma- or plasmodium-infected patients. | 2005 | 16177384 |
| synthesis of chromenochalcones and evaluation of their in vitro antileishmanial activity. | a large number of novel chromenochalcones were synthesized by pyridine-catalysed chromenylation of mono-chelated meta-dihydric acetophenones with the monoterpene, citral dimethyl acetal and subsequent claisen-schmidt condensation of the resultant acylchromenes with appropriate aromatic aldehydes. these chromenochalcones 1-19 were screened against in vitro extracellular promastigotes and intracellular amastigotes of leishmania donovani. the most potent compound in this series was compound 9 with ... | 2005 | 16185885 |
| designing and testing of an effective oil-in-water microemulsion drug delivery system for in vivo application. | the phase behavior of a new psedoternary system of clove oil/tween 20 has been studied. several compositions from the single-phase region were selected and their stability toward time, temperature, and electrolytes has been examined. a particular composition(clove oil/tween 20/water as 5/30/65) was chosen as the drug delivery system from the clear oil-in-water zone of the pseudoternary system. the droplet dimension and the polydispersity state of the particular composition was determined by dyna ... | 2005 | 16188725 |
| targeting of mannosylated liposome incorporated benzyl derivative of penicillium nigricans derived compound mt81 to reticuloendothelial systems for the treatment of visceral leishmaniasis. | the antileishmanial property of a benzyl derivative of a new antibiotic mt81 (bz2mt81), isolated and purified from a fungal strain of penicillium nigricans nrrl 917 was tested in free, liposome intercalated and mannose coated liposome intercalated forms in vivo against visceral leishmaniasis in hamsters. mannose grafted liposome intercalated bz2mt81 eliminated intracellular amastigotes of leishmania donovani within splenic macrophages more efficiently than the liposome intercalated bz2mt81 or fr ... | 2005 | 16199372 |
| crystal structures and proposed structural/functional classification of three protozoan proteins from the isochorismatase superfamily. | we have determined the crystal structures of three homologous proteins from the pathogenic protozoans leishmania donovani, leishmania major, and trypanosoma cruzi. we propose that these proteins represent a new subfamily within the isochorismatase superfamily (cdd classification cd004310). their overall fold and key active site residues are structurally homologous both to the biochemically well-characterized n-carbamoylsarcosine-amidohydrolase, a cysteine hydrolase, and to the phenazine biosynth ... | 2005 | 16199669 |
| interplay between parasite cysteine proteases and the host kinin system modulates microvascular leakage and macrophage infection by promastigotes of the leishmania donovani complex. | kinins, the vasoactive peptides proteolytically liberated from kininogens, were recently recognized as signals alerting the innate immune system. here we demonstrate that leishmania donovani and leishmania chagasi, two etiological agents of visceral leishmaniasis (vl), activate the kinin system. intravital microscopy in the hamster cheek pouch showed that topically applied promastigotes induced macromolecular leakage (fitc-dextran) through postcapillary venules. peaking at 15 min, the parasite-i ... | 2006 | 16203170 |
| leishmania donovani promastigotes induce periphagosomal f-actin accumulation through retention of the gtpase cdc42. | leishmania donovani promastigotes inhibit phagosome maturation and induce the accumulation of periphagosomal f-actin during the establishment of infection within macrophages. these events are mediated by the surface glycolipid lipophosphoglycan (lpg), but the underlying mechanisms remain to be elucidated. in this study, we addressed the role of the rho-family gtpases rhoa, rac1 and cdc42 in the uptake of l. donovani promastigotes and in the accumulation of periphagosomal f-actin. confocal micros ... | 2005 | 16207251 |
| recombinant leishmania antigens for serodiagnosis of visceral leishmaniasis. | serological tests with crude or recombinant leishmania antigens are important tools for the diagnosis of leishmania infection. however, these tests are not markers of active visceral leishmaniasis (vl), since antibodies to these markers are often observed in individuals with subclinical l. chagasi infection and they do not fall shortly after therapy. in this study, levels of immunoglobulin g (igg) against three recombinant leishmania antigens (rh2a, kmp11, and the "q" protein) were evaluated in ... | 2005 | 16210478 |
| potential of direct agglutination test based on promastigote and amastigote antigens for serodiagnosis of post-kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis. | post-kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis (pkdl) is a dermal complication, a sequel to kala-azar. diagnosis of pkdl presents a challenge due to the low parasite burden in the lesions. the direct agglutination test (dat) based on promastigote and amastigote antigens of leishmania donovani of indigenous isolates was developed to diagnose pkdl, and the results were compared with those of the rk39 strip test. the sensitivities of dat for antileishmanial antibody detection, based on promastigote and amasti ... | 2005 | 16210482 |
| effect of pyrazoloquinoline derivatives on the growth of leishmania donovani promastigotes. | a screening study was conducted to examine the effect of a series of synthesized pyrazoloquinoline derivatives on the growth of leishmania donovani promastigotes. sixteen compounds were tested, ten of which showed an inhibitory effect on the growth of promastigotes. compound 1 demonstrated potent antileishmanial activity, followed by compounds 3 and 7. some compounds showed less significant activities, while others exhibited little or no activity. some of these compounds may be potential candida ... | 2005 | 16211660 |
| antileishmanial activity of polycyclic derivatives. | 33 polycyclic derivatives have been studied and tested on leishmania donovani and l. major promastigotes. their antileishmanial activity was assessed in vitro and an assay of their cytotoxicity was realized on human myelomonocytic cell line. the reference molecules used in the assays were amphotericin b and pentamidine. among the compounds tested, 29 possess an antileishmanial activity; 25 of those were more active against l. donovani than amphotericin b, and nine were as effective as amphoteric ... | 2005 | 16218213 |
| roles for mitochondria in pentamidine susceptibility and resistance in leishmania donovani. | pentamidine resistant leishmania donovani was raised in the laboratory by stepwise exposure to increasing drug pressure until a line capable of growth in 8 microm pentamidine (r8) had been selected. an ic(50) value of 40 microm was determined for this line, some 50-fold higher than that recorded for the parental wild-type line. the pentamidine resistant promastigotes were cross-resistant to other toxic diamidine derivatives but not to antimonials or substrates of multidrug resistance pumps. decr ... | 2006 | 16219371 |
| detection of leishmania infantum kinetoplast dna in laryngeal tissue from an immunocompetent patient. | mucosal leishmaniasis of the upper respiratory tract is usually associated with the visceral form or is found in immunosuppressed individuals. this report presents a case of isolated mucosal leishmaniasis in an immunocompetent patient, whose diagnosis mainly rested on histology and positive polymerase chain reaction result for leishmania donovani in the laryngeal tissue. a 59-year-old man, who never lived outside italy, showed a subglottic mucosal polypoid-like lesion. the typical morphological ... | 2005 | 16226116 |
| glyoxalase i from leishmania donovani: a potential target for anti-parasite drug. | glyoxalases are involved in a ubiquitous detoxification pathway. in pursuit of a better understanding of the biological function of the enzyme, the recombinant glyoxalase i (ldgloi) protein has been characterized from leishmania donovani, the most important pathogenic leishmania species that is responsible for visceral leishmaniasis. a 24kda protein was heterologously expressed in escherichia coli. ldgloi showed a marked substrate specificity for trypanothione hemithioacetal over glutathione hem ... | 2005 | 16236261 |
| invariant nkt cells are essential for the regulation of hepatic cxcl10 gene expression during leishmania donovani infection. | gamma interferon (ifn-gamma)-regulated chemokines of the cxc family have been implicated as key regulators of a variety of t-cell-dependent inflammatory processes. however, the cellular source(s) of ifn-gamma that regulates their early expression has rarely been defined. here, we have directly addressed this question in mice after leishmania donovani infection. comparison of cxcl10 mrna accumulation in normal and ifn-gamma-deficient mice confirmed an absolute requirement for ifn-gamma for sustai ... | 2005 | 16239557 |
| gene expression analysis of the mechanism of natural sb(v) resistance in leishmania donovani isolates from nepal. | control of visceral leishmaniasis (vl) is being challenged by the emergence of natural resistance against the first line of treatment, pentavalent antimonials [sb(v)]. an insight into the mechanism of natural sb(v) resistance is required for the development of efficient strategies to monitor the emergence and spreading of sb(v) resistance in countries where vl is endemic. in this work, we have focused on the mechanism of natural sb(v) resistance emerging in nepal, a site where anthroponotic vl i ... | 2005 | 16251303 |
| a case of visceral leishmaniasis misdiagnosed as autoimmune hepatitis. | | 2005 | 16252191 |