Miltefosine Effectiveness on the level of IFN gamma and IL-10 in Mice Infected with Visceral Leishmaniasis

Abstract

Visceral leishmaniasis (VL), a deadly disease caused by the protozoan of genus Leishmania, is a prime health problem in many countries of the world.  Cytokines act an initial role in directing the host immune response and determining disease outcome. The antileishmanial drug miltefosine, the only oral drug used against L. donovani, is capable of immunomodulation of the host. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of different doses of oral miltefosine (30,40,50,60 and 70 mg/ml) twice daily for 28 days duration on the production of two cytokines (IFN-γ and IL-10) in VL infected BALB/c mice.  Enzyme immunoassay was measured for the quantitative determination of mice IFN-γ and IL-10 in sera of infected and treated groups and control groups. IFN-γ levels were increased (21.71 ±0.61, 23.49 ±0.56, 37.85 ± 0.66, 42.01 ± 1.25, and 42.78 ±1.08) in five groups of infected and treated mice with drug concentrations respectively, with a significant difference (P≤0.05). Serum level of IL-10 in non- infected mice was significantly (14.41 ±0.56) lower than infected and treated groups (18.70 ±0.75, 18.70 ±0.75, 18.28 ±0.71, 15.32 ±0.58, 14.69 ±0.44) with the same serial concentration respectively. These results suggest that treatment with different concentrations of miltefosine for 28 days was active against L. donovani. In addition, the changes in the immune response caused by miltefosine may increase the cure rate of VL patients using this drug.