Pristane (2,6,10,14-Tetramethyl-pentadecane) inhibits disease progression in Leishmania-infected Balb/c mice.

The course of Leishmania infection in pristane-primed BALB/c mice infected with either Leishmania major or Leishmania donovani was examined. Pristane-primed L. donovani infected mice had spleen parasite-loads that were 13 times less than controls. Likewise pristane-primed L. major infected animals had significantly smaller footpad lesion areas than controls. Pristane-primed mice had an atypical haematology compared to controls. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report to demonstrate that pristane inhibits progression of disease in Leishmania-infected BALB/c mice.