Background

Leishmaniasis and malaria are major causes of illness in the poorest countries. In the absence of efficient strategies to prevent infections and to control the transmission of the parasites by insect vectors, treatment relies on drug therapy. Vaccine development continues on several fronts; however none of the candidates developed has so far been shown to provide long-lasting protection at a population level. Because the bacillus Calmette–Guérin (BCG) vaccine can induce heterologous protective effects, we hypothesize that BCG has beneficial effects in the control of tegumentary leishmaniasis (TL) and malaria.

Aims

In this review we describe evidence for the protective efficacy of BCG against tegumentary leishmaniasis and malaria in humans.

Sources

Relevant data from peer-reviewed scientific literature published on Pubmed up to January 2019 were examined.

Content

From experimental animal and various human studies with BCG and one recent randomized malaria trial there is evidence that BCG has beneficial effects in Leishmania spp. and Plasmodium falciparum infections. Although the precise mechanisms remain unknown, BCG can activate innate immune responses, and an increasing body of evidence demonstrates that the induction of trained innate immunity could explain its non-specific protective effects.

Implications

Despite many years of research to prevent and treat TL and malaria, these diseases remain a public health problem in tropical countries. Future studies are required to examine if BCG vaccination could be used as an effective treatment option.

中文翻译：

---

卡介苗在原生动物感染中的非特异性作用：皮下利什曼病和疟疾

背景

利什曼病和疟疾是最贫穷国家的主要疾病原因。在没有有效的策略来防止感染和通过昆虫媒介控制寄生虫的传播的情况下，治疗依赖于药物治疗。疫苗的开发在多个方面继续进行。但是，到目前为止，尚未开发出能够在人口一级提供长期保护的候选人。由于卡介苗（BCG）疫苗可诱导异源保护作用，因此我们推测BCG在控制皮层利什曼病（TL）和疟疾方面具有有益作用。

目的

在这篇综述中，我们描述了卡介苗对人类皮下利什曼病和疟疾的保护作用的证据。

资料来源

审查了截至2019年1月在Pubmed上发表的经过同行评审的科学文献的相关数据。

内容

从使用BCG进行的实验动物和各种人体研究以及最近的一项随机疟疾试验中，有证据表明BCG对利什曼原虫具有有益的作用。和恶性疟原虫感染。尽管确切的机制尚不清楚，但BCG可以激活先天免疫应答，越来越多的证据表明，训练有素的先天免疫的诱导可以解释其非特异性保护作用。

含意

尽管进行了多年的预防和治疗TL和疟疾的研究，但这些疾病仍然是热带国家的公共卫生问题。需要进行进一步的研究以检查是否可以将BCG疫苗接种用作有效的治疗选择。