FIGURE 6.

IL-17 or IFN-γ neutralization abrogates the LdCen^−/−-induced host protective immunity. Mice were immunized with LdCen^−/−, and different groups of mice were treated either with anti–IL-17 or anti–IFN-γ mAb, or anti–IL-17 and anti–IFN-γ mAb, or control IgG as described in Materials and Methods. (A) Schematic diagram showing the treatment regimen. After 5 wk postimmunization mice were euthanized and splenocytes were cultured in presence of Leishmania Ag. (B–E) IL-17A, IL-17F, IL-6, and IFN-γ were measured from the culture supernatants by sandwich ELISA. The data represent the mean values + SEM of results from two independent experiments. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.005 compared with IgG treated-immunized mice. (F) Mice from each group were challenged with L. donovani parasites and splenic parasite burden was measured after 10 wk postchallenge. The data represent the mean values + SEM of results from two independent experiments. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.005.