Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is caused by a protozoan parasite Leishmania donovani mainly influencing the population of tropical and subtropical regions across the globe. The arsenal of drugs available is limited, and prolonged use of such drugs makes parasite to become resistant. Therefore, it is very imperative to develop a safe, cost‐effective and inexpensive vaccine against VL. Although in recent years, many strategies have been pursued by researchers, so far only some of the vaccine candidates reached for clinical trial and more than half of them are still in pipeline. There is now a broad consent among Leishmania researchers that the perseverance of parasite is very essential for eliciting a protective immune response and may perhaps be attained by live attenuated parasite vaccination. For making a live attenuated parasite, it is very essential to ensure that the parasite is deficient of virulence and should further study genetically modified parasites to perceive the mechanism of pathogenesis. So it is believed that in the near future, a complete understanding of the Leishmania genome will explore clear strategies to discover a novel vaccine. This review describes the need for a genetically modified live attenuated vaccine against VL, and obstacles associated with its development.

中文翻译：

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转基因减毒活疫苗：对抗内脏利什曼病的一种潜在策略。

内脏利什曼病（VL）是由原生动物寄生虫利什曼原虫donovani引起的，主要影响全球热带和亚热带地区的人口。可用药物的库是有限的，并且长期使用此类药物会使寄生虫变得耐药。因此，迫切需要开发一种安全，经济，便宜的抗VL疫苗。尽管近年来，研究人员已采取了许多策略，但到目前为止，只有部分候选疫苗可用于临床试验，其中一半以上仍在研发中。利什曼原虫病现已得到广泛同意研究人员认为，寄生虫的恒心对于引发保护性免疫反应非常重要，也许可以通过减毒活疫苗接种来达到。为了制作活的减毒寄生虫，非常重要的是要确保该寄生虫缺乏毒力，并应进一步研究转基因的寄生虫以了解其发病机理。因此，相信在不久的将来，对利什曼原虫基因组的完整理解将探索发现新疫苗的明确策略。这篇综述描述了针对VL的转基因减毒活疫苗的需求以及与其发展相关的障碍。