Figure 4.

SLA is a functional adjuvant in mice. (a) Cytokine responses to LEISH-F3. Mice were immunized and spleen cells incubated with LEISH-F3 antigen. IFNγ secreted into the culture supernatant was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay. (b) Cellular responses to LEISH-F3—cells were subjected to flow cytometry and CD4 T cells were categorized on the basis of producing three, two or one cytokine(s) (IFNγ, IL-2 and/or TNF). Three mice per group were evaluated. Student's t-tests were used for statistical analysis. (c) Protection against parasite challenge in mice in vivo. Immunized mice were inoculated by intravenous infection with L. donovani parasites and burden in the liver 4 weeks later determined by PCR. Seven mice per group were evaluated. Statistically significant differences between indicated groups were determined by analysis of variance with Bonferroni's correction for multiple tests, NS indicates not significant. Results are representative of at least two independent experiments.