AUTHOR=Ibarra-Meneses Ana V. , Sanchez Carmen , Alvar Jorge , Moreno Javier , Carrillo Eugenia 

TITLE=Monocyte Chemotactic Protein 1 in Plasma from Soluble Leishmania Antigen-Stimulated Whole Blood as a Potential Biomarker of the Cellular Immune Response to Leishmania infantum

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Immunology

VOLUME=8

YEAR=2017

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/immunology/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2017.01208

DOI=10.3389/fimmu.2017.01208

ISSN=1664-3224

ABSTRACT=<p>New biomarkers are needed to identify asymptomatic <italic>Leishmania</italic> infection as well as immunity following vaccination or treatment. With the aim of finding a robust biomarker to assess an effective cellular immune response, monocyte chemotactic protein 1 (MCP-1) was examined in plasma from soluble <italic>Leishmania</italic> antigen (SLA)-stimulated whole blood collected from subjects living in a <italic>Leishmania infantum</italic>-endemic area. MCP-1, expressed 110 times more strongly than IL-2, identified 87.5% of asymptomatic subjects and verified some asymptomatic subjects close to the cutoff. MCP-1 was also significantly elevated in all patients cured of visceral leishmaniasis (VL), unlike IL-2, indicating the specific memory response generated against <italic>Leishmania</italic>. These results show MCP-1 to be a robust candidate biomarker of immunity that could be used as a marker of cure and to both select and follow the population in vaccine phase I–III human clinical trials with developed rapid, easy-to-use field tools.</p>