Leishmania (Leishmania) amazonensis infection in mice treated with FTY720

In transplantation, parasite diseases are transmitted from the donor, or appear as de novo infections, or activate from a dormant insource as a consequence of immunosuppression. Clinical findings have shown that an intact immune system is crucial to prevent recurrence of Leishmania infection. We used BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice to evaluate the role of FTY720 in leishmaniasis. Mice inoculated with Leishmania (Leishmania) amazonensis were followed over 7 weeks for foot thickness measurements after initiation of FTY720 treatment. After 10 days of treatment, spleen, blood, and the foot were harvested for evaluation. BALB/c showed greater evident foot thickness than C57BL/6 mice. Oral treatment with FTY720 (1 mg/kg/d) over 10 days produced the same outcome. Increases in CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells were observed after infection; FTY720 treatment was associated with a decrease in CD4(+) T cells only in BALB/c mice, whereas CD8(+) T cells were decreased in both mice strains. CD11b(+) expression decreased after infection with a discrete increase after FTY720 treatment. Lymphopenia was observed among all FTY720-treated mice. In conclusion, we observed that FTY720 produced no worse an outcome as monotherapy in established infections with L (L) amazonensis.