Status of vaccine research and development of vaccines for leishmaniasis

Abstract

A number of leishmaniasis vaccine candidates are at various stages of pre-clinical and clinical development. Leishmaniasis is a vector-borne neglected tropical disease (NTD) caused by a protozoan parasite of the genus Leishmania and transmitted to humans by the bite of a sand fly. Visceral leishmaniasis (VL, kala-azar) is a high mortality NTD found mostly in South Asia and East Africa, while cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is a disfiguring NTD highly endemic in the Middle East, Central Asia, North Africa, and the Americas. Estimates attribute 50,000 annual deaths and 3.3 million disability-adjusted life years to leishmaniasis. There are only a few approved drug treatments, no prophylactic drug and no vaccine. Ideally, an effective vaccine against leishmaniasis will elicit long-lasting immunity and protect broadly against VL and CL. Vaccines such as Leish-F1, F2 and F3, developed at IDRI and designed based on selected Leishmania antigen epitopes, have been in clinical trials. Other groups, including the Sabin Vaccine Institute in collaboration with the National Institutes of Health are investigating recombinant Leishmania antigens in combination with selected sand fly salivary gland antigens in order to augment host immunity. To date, both VL and CL vaccines have been shown to be cost-effective in economic modeling studies.

A Vaccine Therapy for Canine Visceral Leishmaniasis Promoted Significant Improvement of Clinical and Immune Status with Reduction in Parasite Burden

“…In an attempt to control the disease, many strategies are used to interrupt parasite transmission, including elimination of seropositive dogs that act as reservoirs, use of insecticides for vector control and systematic treatment of human cases (3, 4). Several studies have shown the importance of the development of vaccines to control the disease (5–8); however, to date there are no vaccines that can be used in control programs against human or canine disease (9). Moreover, available treatment options are still far from a desirable efficacy due the fact that they are either toxic (antimonials and amphotericin B deoxycholate) or expensive (liposomal amphotericin B) (10).…”

Asteraceae Artemisia campestris and Artemisia herba-alba Essential Oils Trigger Apoptosis and Cell Cycle Arrest in Leishmania infantum Promastigotes

“…However, many leishmaniasis candidate vaccines (recombinant protein-based and DNA-based vaccines) are at various stages of preclinical and clinical development [4]. Among them, Leish-111 is currently under phase II clinical trials [5].…”

Development of a semi-automated image-based high-throughput drug screening system

“…Currently, no vaccination is available against leishmaniasis (7). There is a continuous and gradual increase in the prevalence of drug-resistant Leishmania spp.…”