Evidence of subjects sensitized to Leishmania infantum on the French Mediterranean coast: differences in gamma interferon production between this population and visceral leishmaniasis patients

The Marseilles region is an endemic area for visceral mediterranean leishmaniasis, but although the number of dog cases, the parasite's main host, is very high, only a few people develop the disease. We looked for sensitized healthy subjects among 25 healthy individuals living in this area by studying their in vitro lymphoproliferative response to Leishmania infantum antigens and gamma interferon synthesis. We found that 65% of tested subjects were sensitized against L. infantum. We compared their cell mediated immunity to that of 13 active Kala-Azar patients and 13 controls from non-endemic areas. In patients, results showed a specific cellular immuno-deficiency in the lymphocyte response to L. infantum antigens and a global deficiency of gamma interferon production. Interestingly, the healthy individuals from the endemic area who responded to L. infantum antigens were found to produce high gamma interferon levels after L. infantum antigen stimulation. After healing, the cell mediated-immunity of the 3 patients we followed up was similar to that of the sensitized tested healthy subjects, but the former were still producing antibodies at the time of study.