Antileishmanial effect of rapamycin as an alternative approach to control Leishmania tropica infection

Publication date: Available online 10 November 2019Source: Veterinary ParasitologyAuthor(s): Fatemeh Khadir, Tahereh Taheri, Sima Habibzadeh, Farnaz Zahedifard, Elham Gholami, Maryam Heidari-Kharaji, Ahmad Oryan, Sima RafatiAbstractCutaneous leishmaniosis (CL) is a parasitic disease in animals and human with no satisfactory treatments and vaccination. Rapamycin is a potent inhibitor of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) with various applications. Here, the effect of rapamycin alone or in combination with two other drugs, namely amphotericin B (AmB) and glucantime, was investigated against Leishmania tropica infection. In vitro viability and electron microscopy evaluation of the parasites showed detrimental changes in their appearance and viability. Treatment with clinically relevant dose of rapamycin (10.2 µg/dose) is able to control the parasite load in BALB/c mice infected with L. tropica. Furthermore, the cytokine profiles showed significant polarization towards Th1 immune response. Surprisingly, combination therapy with either AmB or glucantime was not efficient. Rapamycin is showed an effective alternative therapy against leishmaniosis caused by L. tropica.Graphical abstract
Source: Veterinary Parasitology - Category: Veterinary Research Source Type: research