Intranasal vaccination with leishmanial antigens protects golden hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus) against Leishmania (Viannia) Braziliensis infection.

• Published in: PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases
• Main Authors: Luzinei da Silva-Couto, Raquel Peralva Ribeiro-Romão, Andrea Franco Saavedra, Beatriz Lilian da Silva Costa Souza, Otacílio Cruz Moreira, Adriano Gomes-Silva, Bartira Rossi-Bergmann, Alda Maria Da-Cruz, Eduardo Fonseca Pinto
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2015
• Subjects: Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine; RC955-962; Public aspects of medicine; RA1-1270; Arctic
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0003439; https://doaj.org/article/923e1ac876544224b8a517207c894007

Previous results have shown that oral and intranasal administration of particulate Leishmania (Leishmania) amazonensis antigens (LaAg) partially protects mice against L. amazonensis infection. However, vaccination studies on species of the subgenus Viannia, the main causative agent of cutaneous and mucosal leishmaniasis in the Americas, have been hampered by the lack of easy-to-handle bio-models that accurately mimic the human disease. Recently, we demonstrated that the golden hamster is an appropriate model for studying the immunopathogenesis of cutaneous leishmaniasis caused by L. (Viannia) braziliensis. Using the golden hamster model, our current study investigated whether the protective effect of intranasal immunisation with LaAg can be extended to L. braziliensis infection.Golden hamsters vaccinated with either two intranasal (IN) doses of LaAg (10 µg) or two intramuscular doses of LaAg (20 µg) were challenged 2 weeks post-vaccination with L. braziliensis. The results showed that IN immunisation with LaAg significantly reduced lesion growth and parasitic load as well as serum IgG and IgG2 levels. At the experimental endpoint on day 114 post-infection, IN-immunised hamsters that were considered protected expressed IFN-γ and IL10 mRNA levels that returned to uninfected skin levels. In contrast to the nasal route, intramuscular (IM) immunisation failed to provide protection.These results demonstrate for the first time that the nasal route of immunisation can induce cross protection against L. braziliensis infection.