Cytokine profiles amongst Sudanese patients with visceral leishmaniasis and malaria co-infections

• Published in: BMC immunology 2014-05, Vol.15 (1), p.16-16, Article 16
• Main Authors: van den Bogaart, Erika, Talha, Al-Badawi A, Straetemans, Masja, Mens, Pètra F, Adams, Emily R, Grobusch, Martin P, Nour, Bakri Y M, Schallig, Henk D F H
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Analysis; Child; Coinfection; Cytokines; Cytokines - blood; Female; Genetic aspects; Health aspects; Humans; Immune system; Infection control; Leishmania donovani; Leishmaniasis, Visceral - blood; Leishmaniasis, Visceral - diagnosis; Leishmaniasis, Visceral - immunology; Malaria; Malaria - blood; Malaria - diagnosis; Malaria - immunology; Malaria, Falciparum - blood; Malaria, Falciparum - immunology; Male; Medical research; Medicine, Experimental; Parasites; Physiological aspects; Plasmodium falciparum; Plasmodium falciparum - immunology; Sudan; Young Adult
• ISSN: 1471-2172; 1471-2172
• DOI: 10.1186/1471-2172-15-16

The immune system plays a critical role in the development of co-infections, promoting or preventing establishment of multiple infections and shaping the outcome of pathogen-host interactions. Its ability to mediate the interplay between visceral leishmaniasis (VL) and malaria has been suggested, but poorly documented. The present study investigated whether concomitant infection with Leishmania donovani complex and Plasmodium falciparum in naturally co-infected patients altered the immunological response elicited by the two pathogens individually. Circulating levels of interferon (IFN)-γ, interleukin (IL)-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, IL-12p70, IL-13, IL-17A and tumor necrosis factor (TNF) were assessed in sera of patients infected with active VL and/or malaria and healthy individuals from Gedarif State, Sudan. Comparative analysis of cytokine profiles from co- and mono-infected patients highlighted significant differences in the immune response mounted upon co-infection, confirming the ability of L. donovani and P. falciparum to mutually interact at the immunological level. Progressive polarization towards type-1 and pro-inflammatory cytokine patterns characterized the co-infected patients, whose response partly reflected the effect elicited by VL (IFN-γ, TNF) and malaria (IL-2, IL-13), and partly resulted from a synergistic interaction of the two diseases upon each other (IL-17A). Significantly reduced levels of P. falciparum parasitaemia (P