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Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, December 2009, p. 5114-5121, Vol. 53, No. 12
0066-4804/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AAC.01146-09
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

The Antituberculosis Drug Pyrazinamide Affects the Course of Cutaneous Leishmaniasis In Vivo and Increases Activation of Macrophages and Dendritic Cells{triangledown}

Susana Mendez,1* Ryan Traslavina,1 Meleana Hinchman,1 Lu Huang,1 Patricia Green,1 Michael H. Cynamon,2 and John T. Welch3

Baker Institute for Animal Health, College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853,1 Department of Medicine, Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Syracuse, New York 13210,2 Department of Chemistry, University at Albany-SUNY, Albany, New York 122223

Received 11 August 2009/ Returned for modification 8 September 2009/ Accepted 11 September 2009

Antileishmanial therapy is suboptimal due to toxicity, high cost, and development of resistance to available drugs. Pyrazinamide (PZA) is a constituent of short-course tuberculosis chemotherapy. We investigated the effect of PZA on Leishmania major promastigote and amastigote survival. Promastigotes were more sensitive to the drug than amastigotes, with concentrations at which 50% of parasites were inhibited (MIC50) of 16.1 and 8.2 µM, respectively (48 h posttreatment). Moreover, 90% of amastigotes were eliminated at 120 h posttreatment, indicating that longer treatments will result in parasite elimination. Most strikingly, PZA treatment of infected C57BL/6 mice resulted in protection against disease and in a 100-fold reduction in the parasite burden. PZA treatment of J774 cells and bone marrow-derived dendritic cells and macrophages increased interleukin 12, tumor necrosis factor alpha, and activation marker expression, as well as nitric oxide production, suggesting that PZA enhances effective immune responses against the parasite. PZA treatment also activates dendritic cells deficient in Toll-like receptor 2 and 4 expression to initiate a proinflammatory response, confirming that the immunostimulatory effect of PZA is directly caused by the drug and is independent of Toll-like receptor stimulation. These results not only are strongly indicative of the promise of PZA as an alternative antileishmanial chemotherapy but also suggest that PZA causes collateral immunostimulation, a phenomenon that has never been reported for this drug.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Baker Institute for Animal Health, Hungerford Hill Road, College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853. Phone: (607) 256-5624. Fax: (607) 256-5608. E-mail: sm457{at}cornell.edu

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 21 September 2009.

Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, December 2009, p. 5114-5121, Vol. 53, No. 12
0066-4804/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AAC.01146-09
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.





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