In this study, we selected Amastin, CaNA2, Kmp-11 and PDI proteins of Leishmania donovani for study, which are VL vaccine candidates or possible drug targets.
Our prior studies demonstrated that T-helper1 (Th1) type of cellular response was generated by six potential recombinant proteins <i>viz</i>. elongation factor-2 (elF-2), enolase, aldolase, triose phosphate isomerase (TPI), protein disulfide isomerase (PDI) and p45, derived from a soluble antigenic fraction (89.9-97.1 kDa) of <i>Leishmania (Leishmania) donovani</i> promastigote, in treated <i>Leishmania</i> patients and golden hamsters and showed significant prophylactic potential against experimental VL.
The in vitro as well as in vivo results thus indicate that LdPDI may be exploited as a potential vaccine candidate against visceral Leishmaniasis (VL).