Publication
Title
Comparative fitness of a parent **Leishmania donovani** clinical isolate and its experimentally derived paromomycin-resistant strain
Author
Abstract
Paromomycin has recently been introduced for the treatment of visceral leishmaniasis and emergence of drug resistance can only be appropriately judged upon its long term routine use in the field. Understanding alterations in parasite behavior linked to paromomycin-resistance may be essential to assess the propensity for emergence and spread of resistant strains. A standardized and integrated laboratory approach was adopted to define and assess parasite fitness of both promastigotes and amastigotes using an experimentally induced paromomycin-resistant Leishmania donovani strain and its paromomycin-susceptible parent wild-type clinical isolate. Primary focus was placed on parasite growth and virulence, two major components of parasite fitness. The combination of in vitro and in vivo approaches enabled detailed comparison of wild-type and resistant strains for which no differences could be demonstrated with regard to promastigote growth, metacyclogenesis, in vitro infectivity, multiplication in primary peritoneal mouse macrophages and infectivity for Balb/c mice upon infection with 2 x 107 metacyclic promastigotes. Monitoring of in vitro intracellular amastigote multiplication revealed a consistent decrease in parasite burden over time for both wild-type and resistant parasites, an observation that was subsequently also confirmed in a larger set of L. donovani clinical isolates. Though the impact of these findings should be further explored, the study results suggest that the epidemiological implications of acquired paromomycin-resistance may remain minimal other than the loss of one of the last remaining drugs effective against visceral leishmaniasis.
Language
English
Source (journal)
PLoS ONE
Publication
2015
ISSN
1932-6203
DOI
10.1371/JOURNAL.PONE.0140139
Volume/pages
10 :10 (2015) , 14 p.
Article Reference
e0140139
ISI
000363184600028
Pubmed ID
26469696
Medium
E-only publicatie
Full text (Publisher's DOI)
Full text (open access)
UAntwerpen
Faculty/Department
Research group
Project info
New tools for monitoring drug resistance and treatment response in visceral leishmaniasis in the Indian subcontinent. (KALADRUG-R).
Molecular markers for epidemiological monitoring of drug resistance in visceral leishmaniasis.
Publication type
Subject
Affiliation
Publications with a UAntwerp address
External links
Web of Science
Record
Identifier
Creation 20.10.2015
Last edited 28.01.2024
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