Cyclosporin A enhances elimination of intracellular L. major parasites by murine macrophages.

In this study we analyzed the influence of cyclosporin A (CyA) on the process of phagocytosis of L. major promastigotes and amastigotes by inflammatory peritoneal macrophages (MP) from BALB/c mice. Our data clearly demonstrate that CyA profoundly enhanced the degradation by peritoneal MP of both intracellular L. major promastigotes and amastigotes. This effect was T cell-independent and specifically associated with CyA, since the similarly structured cyclosporin F (CyF) was ineffective. CyA did not alter the replication and infectivity of extracellular parasites. From these results we conclude that the inhibition of intracellular parasite replication in the presence of CyA substantially contributes to the previously described suppressive effect of CyA on the development of L. major-induced lesions in BALB/c mice.