Immunology Department, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran.
Parasite Immunol. 2013 Jan;35(1):42-50. doi: 10.1111/pim.12018.
Four genotypically distinct strains of L. major collected from persons residing in different endemic areas of cutaneous leishmaniasis in Iran were evaluated in BALB/c mice. Parasite virulence was evaluated by measuring the parasite burden in the lymph nodes. Immunogenicity of the strains was assessed by analysis of cytokines mRNA expression levels in popliteal lymph nodes of the mice in early (3, 16, 40 h) and late (week 1, W3, W5 and W8) time periods after infection. The expression of cytokines mRNA, namely Ifng, Il2,Il4,Il10 and Il12, was quantitated by real-time PCR. The lowest and the highest parasite loads were induced by Damghan (2·15 × 10⁷) and Shiraz (9·59 × 10⁹) strains, respectively. Moreover, Damghan strain elicited higher expression levels of Ifng and Il2 mRNA and the highest ratio of Ifng/Il4 mRNA expression compared with the other strains at 40 h and 8 weeks post-infection. The results indicate that the inoculation of BALB/c mice with different strains induced high diversity in parasite burden and cytokines gene expression. Amongst the four strains, Damghan strain showed the lowest parasite load and the highest tendency to induce expression of Th1 cytokines gene and might be considered as a safe and immunogenic strain.
从伊朗不同皮肤利什曼病流行地区居住的人群中收集到的 4 种基因型不同的 L. major 菌株在 BALB/c 小鼠中进行了评估。通过测量淋巴结中的寄生虫负担来评估寄生虫的毒力。通过分析感染后早期（3、16、40 h）和晚期（第 1 周、W3、W5 和 W8）时间点小鼠后肢淋巴结中细胞因子 mRNA 表达水平来评估菌株的免疫原性。细胞因子 mRNA 的表达，即 Ifng、Il2、Il4、Il10 和 Il12，通过实时 PCR 进行定量。Damghan（2·15×10⁷）和 Shiraz（9·59×10⁹）菌株分别诱导了最低和最高的寄生虫负荷。此外，与其他菌株相比，Damghan 菌株在感染后 40 h 和 8 周时诱导更高水平的 Ifng 和 Il2 mRNA 表达，以及最高的 Ifng/Il4 mRNA 表达比值。结果表明，用不同菌株接种 BALB/c 小鼠会导致寄生虫负荷和细胞因子基因表达的高度多样性。在这 4 种菌株中，Damghan 菌株的寄生虫负荷最低，诱导 Th1 细胞因子基因表达的趋势最高，因此可以被认为是一种安全且具有免疫原性的菌株。
