Enhancement of experimental cutaneous leishmaniasis by Leishmania extract: identification of a disease-associated antibody specificity

Virgínia M. G. Silva, Cíntia F. de-Araújo, Isabela C. Navarro, Pablo R. S. Oliveira, Lain Pontes–de-Carvalho

Both Leishmania braziliensis and Leishmania amazonensis induce cutaneous disease when injected in the skin of BALB/c mice. However, L. amazonensis may also visceralize in that strain of mice, infecting mainly the liver and spleen. In addition, whereas BALB/c mice die with a progressive cutaneous disease when infected by L. amazonensis, the infection by L. braziliensis is spontaneously cured. In a previous work, we have found that intravenous injections of L. amazonensis amastigote extract (LaE) potentiated a L. braziliensis infection in BALB/c mice, and that this infection-promoting activity could be inhibited by the addition of protease inhibitors to the extract. In order to detect markers of disease evolution, in the present work we analyzed the specificity of the anti-L. amazonensis antibody response of BALB/c mice injected intravenously with saline or LaE, supplemented or not with protease inhibitors, by the Western blot technique. IgG1 antibodies recognizing an antigen with apparent molecular weight of 116 kDa were specifically detected in BALB/c mice that had been turned susceptible to L. braziliensis infection by injections of LaE. A Th2 immune response (IgG1 antibody-producing) against this 116 kDa antigen, therefore, could be associated with susceptibility to severe Leishmania infection.