Polymeric Delivery Systems as a Potential Vaccine against Visceral Leishmaniasis: Formulation Development and Immunogenicity

Recent studies suggest that the association of antigens in microparticles increases the anti-Leishmania vaccine immunogenicity. This study aims to investigate the in situ effect of the adjuvant performance consisting of chitosan-coated poly(D,L-lactic) acid submicrometric particles (SMP) and analyze the inflammatory profile and toxicity. Two formulations were selected, SMP(1), containing poly(D,L-lactide) (PLA) 1% wt/v and chitosan 1% wt/v; and SMP(2), containing PLA 5% wt/v and chitosan 5% wt/v. After a single dose of the unloaded SMP(1) or SMP(2) in mice, the SMPs promoted cell recruitment without tissue damage. In addition, besides the myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity having demonstrated similar results among the analyzed groups, a progressive reduction in the levels of N-acetyl-β-(D)-glucosaminidase (NAG) until 72 h was observed for SMPs. While IL-6 levels were similar among all the analyzed groups along the kinetics, only the SMPs groups had detectable levels of TNF-α. Additionally, the Leishmania braziliensis antigen was encapsulated in SMPs (SMP(1)Ag and SMP(2)Ag), and mice were vaccinated with three doses. The immunogenicity analysis by flow cytometry demonstrated a reduction in NK (CD3(−)CD49(+)) cells in all the SMPs groups, in addition to impairment in the T cells subsets (CD3(+)CD4(+)) and CD3(+)CD8(+)) and B cells (CD19(+)) of the SMP(2) group. The resulting data demonstrate that the chitosan-coated SMP formulations stimulate the early events of an innate immune response, suggesting their ability to increase the immunogenicity of co-administered Leishmania antigens.