Immunogenicity assay of the Leishmune(®) vaccine against canine visceral leishmaniasis in Brazil

Leishmune(®) is the industrialized version of the FML-saponin vaccine which has been shown to develop 92–95% protection in vaccinated dogs and 76–80% vaccine efficacy against field canine visceral leishmaniasis (CVL) in Brazil. Leishmune(®) has been proven to be safe and tolerable and a transmission-blocking vaccine which renders vaccinated dogs non-infectious to sand fly vectors. In the present investigation, 550 healthy seronegative dogs of endemic and epidemic areas of Brazil were monitored for Leishmune(®)-induced immunogenicity during a 2-year trial. Another group of 588 untreated exposed dogs was also studied in parallel. Both groups were seronegative on day 0. The strong immunogenicity induced by Leishmune(®) vaccine was demonstrated by the 98% of FML-seroconversion, increase in absorbencies, the 82.7% DTH positive reactions and increase in skin test size diameters, the average increase in CD8+ total lymphocytes population in blood (27.1%), expected for QS21 saponin-containing vaccine, the sustained proportions of CD4+ T cells, and the average increased proportions of CD21+ B lymphocytes (42.3%). The Leishmune(®)-induced protection against CVL is demonstrated by the results: 98.8% asymptomatic dogs (at the end of first year) and 99% healthy survivors (at the end of the second year) among vaccinated dogs, compared to the 79.4% asymptomatic and 61% survivor dogs (p < 0.001) monitored in the untreated exposed cohort. In spite of the low vaccine coverage, it was possible to detect a 66.1% (p < 0.005) reduction in Belo Horizonte and an 80.2% (p < 0.005) reduction in Araçatuba of the incidence of CVL among vaccinated dogs, when compared to the global incidence of CVL of each town, respectively. Our preliminary results support the potential use of Leishmune(®) to prevent CVL epidemics.