Significance of persistence of antibodies against Leishmania infantum in sicilian patients affected by acute visceral leishmaniasis

Clinical and Experimental Medicine - Tập 12 - Trang 127-132 - 2011
Pasquale Mansueto1, Ilenia Pepe1, Aurelio Seidita1, Francesca Scozzari1, Giustina Vitale1, Francesco Arcoleo2, Inglese Elvira2, Enrico Cillari2, Giovam Battista Rini1, Nicola Napoli3, Salvatore Di Rosa4, Serafino Mansueto1, Gaetana Di Fede5
1Dipartimento di Medicina Clinica e delle Patologie Emergenti, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy
2Unità Operativa Complessa di Patologia Clinica, Azienda Ospedaliera Ospedali Riuniti ‘Villa Sofia-Cervello’, Palermo, Italy
3Washington University, St. Louis, USA
4Azienda Ospedaliera Ospedali Riuniti Villa Sofia-Cervello, Palermo, Italy
5Dipartimento di Discipline Chirurgiche ed Oncologiche, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy

Tóm tắt

The background of this article is as follows: Few data are available about the persistence of serum-specific IgG antibodies to L. infantum after acute VL. The objective of this article is to evaluate the persistence of antibodies against L. infantum in patients healed from acute VL, and the kinetic of the same antibodies observed in 2 cases of VL relapse and 2 cases of resistance to therapy. The methods which we used to obtain our objective are the following: 55 apparently immunocompetent, HIV-negative patients were examined for antibodies to L. infantum by IFAT over 14 years period, and we got the following results: Serum-specific IgG antibodies titers decrease slowly, but constantly. In the patients with a diagnosis of VL relapse, the kinetic of antibodies was characterized by an initial reduction, and a subsequent antibody levels rapidly increase, while in the patients with a clinical and parasitological diagnosis of VL not responding to specific therapy, we demonstrated persistent high level of antibodies to L. infantum. Finally, we conclude that specific antibodies to L. infantum might persist for many years, and decrease slowly, but steadily. The persistence of these specific antibodies is not related to poor therapeutic response or prognosis, but an acute increase in their levels might be a sentinel of a VL relapse, while persistence of high antibody levels could suggest a resistance to therapy.

Tài liệu tham khảo

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