Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Immune cell changes in dogs with leishmaniosis
By Matralis, Dimitrios T et al.·Published in Acta veterinaria Scandinavica·2023·Vets4life Veterinary Clinic·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Intracellular IFN-γ and IL-4 levels of CD4 + and CD8 + T cells in the peripheral blood of naturally infected (Leishmania infantum) symptomatic dogs before and following a 4-week treatment with miltefosine and allopurinol: a double-blinded, controlled and cross-sectional study.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of dogs with leishmaniosis, a disease caused by a parasite, showed symptoms like skin and kidney problems. They were treated with two medications, miltefosine and allopurinol, for four weeks. After treatment, the levels of a specific immune response marker (IL-4) decreased, suggesting that it may have contributed to their symptoms. However, another immune marker (IFN-γ) did not show significant changes, indicating it might not play a major role in the disease's progression. Overall, the treatment helped reduce some of the immune responses linked to the symptoms of leishmaniosis.
People also search for: dog leishmaniosis treatment · symptoms of leishmaniasis in dogs · miltefosine for dogs · allopurinol for dog kidney disease
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Canine leishmaniosis (CanL) is a systemic disease caused by the protozoan parasite Leishmania infantum with a wide spectrum of clinical signs, with cutaneous, ocular, renal and lymphoreactive conditions prevailing in the clinical setting. The immune system plays a pivotal role in the evolution of Leishmania infection and its response to antileishmanial treatment. Cytokines are important immune response mediators that are released by activated lymphocytes and less so by other immunocytes. In dogs with leishmaniosis, IFN-γ and IL-4 have been recognized as the main activators of cellular and humoral immunity, respectively. The objective of this study was to investigate intracellular IL-4 and IFN-γ expression by CD4 + and CD8 + lymphocytes in the peripheral blood of symptomatic dogs before and after combined antileishmanial treatment with miltefosine and allopurinol. RESULTS: Postantileishmanial treatment CD4 + IL-4 + and CD8 + IL-4 + cell counts were significantly decreased, although no similar changes were observed in the comparisons made between the pre- and posttreatment CD4 + IFN-γ + and CD8 + IFN-γ + counts and ratios. CONCLUSION: The findings indicate that IL-4 production by T cells may facilitate the symptomatic phase of CanL, whereas IFN-γ production by CD4 + and CD8 + cells may indicate its negligible role in the evolution of natural CanL and perhaps the equivocal positive influence of antileishmanial treatment.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36703227/