Moreover, combination therapy using cisplatin and human leucocyte antigen-A24-restricted human vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 1 (VEGFR1)-1084 and VEGFR2-169 in patients with advanced or recurrent adenocarcinoma of the stomach showed that the disease control rate (partial and stable disease) was 100% after two cycles of the combination therapy [25]. Delayed-type hypersensitivity response to leishmanial antigens has been widely used to assess the level of host protection to the disease [26]. It has been well established that induction of a DTH response is mediated via Th1 cell as it secretes IFN-γ which

is expressed during macrophage stimulation buy BAY 80-6946 for parasite killing [27]. The DTH responses to leishmanin were apparent during L. donovani infection in BALB/c mice as evident by an increase in the foot pad swelling after injection of leishmanin. The increase was much higher when the animals were treated with immunochemotherapy than the groups BAY 73-4506 nmr of animals treated with

chemotherapy or immunotherapy alone. This suggests that the mice treated with cisplatin + 78 kDa with or without adjuvant (MPL-A) developed a strong cell-mediated immune response indicating that drug treatment followed by vaccine therapy was helpful in reversal of immunosuppression caused by the parasite. Earlier studies from our laboratory reported an increased DTH response in animals treated with low dose of cisplatin [14]. Correlation between DTH responses and parasite load has also been reported [14, 15]. This was evident from our results where a strong positive correlation was observed between enhanced DTH response and reduced parasite load. The immunological response was further characterized by analysing the

distribution of IgG1 and IgG2a specific antibodies in the serum samples of infected and treated BALB/c mice. Production of IgG2a is normally associated with IFN-γ secretion and the development of a Th1 immune response. However, in contrast, production of the IgG1 is normally associated with IL-4 secretion and the development of Th2 type of response. The treated animals revealed higher IgG2a and lower IgG1 levels than the infected controls. However, maximum levels of IgG2a and minimum levels of IgG1 were observed in animals learn more treated with cisplatin + 78 kDa + MPL-A than those animals that are treated with cisplatin alone or 78 kDa/78 kDa + MPL-A alone. It has been shown earlier from our laboratory that immunization of mice with 78 kDa + MPL-A resulted in significant increase in IgG2a response [6]. Moreover, a significant reduction in specific antibody titres was observed after treatment with immunochemotherapy (Glucantime + Leish-110f/MPL-SE) in dogs suffering from canine leishmaniasis [18]. Th1 and Th2 cell lymphocytes are important mediators in generating immunity to leishmaniasis and can be distinguished by the cytokines they secrete.