Preclinical evaluation of immunogenicity and protective efficacy of a recombinant chimeric protein vaccine against visceral leishmaniasis

Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is a tropical disease that can be fatal if acute and untreated. Diagnosis is difficult, the treatment is toxic and prophylactic vaccines do not exist. <i>Leishmania</i> parasites express hundreds of proteins and several of them are relevant for the host's immune system. In this context, in the present study, 10 specific T-cell epitopes from 5 parasite proteins, which were identified by antibodies in VL patients' sera, were selected and used to construct a gene codifying the new chimeric protein called rCHI. The rCHI vaccine was developed and thoroughly evaluated for its potential effectiveness against <i>Leishmania infantum</i> infection. We used monophosphoryl lipid A (MPLA) and polymeric micelles (Mic) as adjuvant and/or delivery system. The results demonstrated that both rCHI/MPLA and rCHI/Mic significantly stimulate an antileishmanial Th1-type cellular response, with higher production of IFN-<i>γ</i>, TNF-<i>α</i>, IL-12 and nitrite in vaccinated animals, and this response was sustained after challenge. In addition, these mice significantly reduced the parasitism in internal organs and increased the production of IgG2a isotype antibodies. <i>In vivo</i> and <i>in vitro</i> toxicity showed that rCHI is safe for the mammalians, and the recombinant protein also induced <i>in vitro</i> lymphoproliferative response and production of Th1-type cytokines by human cells, which were collected from healthy subjects and treated VL patients. These data suggest rCHI plus MPLA or micelles could be considered as a vaccine candidate against VL.