Journal
PARASITE IMMUNOLOGY
Volume 36, Issue 8, Pages 367-376Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1111/pim.12100
Keywords
CD4 T lymphocytes; cytokine; human; immunopathology; immunoregulation; leishmaniasis
Categories
Funding
- NIH/Tropical Medicine Research Center Program
- NIH-NI-AID [R03AI066253-03]
- INCT-DT/CNPq
- FAPEMIG
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Leishmaniasis covers a broad spectrum of diseases with distinct, and sometimes overlapping, characteristics. The common thread in all forms of leishmaniasis is the infection by the parasite Leishmania belonging to the genus Leishmania. Upon infection of humans, there can be at least three outcomes, (i) control of Leishmania by the host immune response resulting in asymptomatic disease, (ii) patent infection and development of a relatively mild form of leishmaniasis and (iii) patent infection and development of severe clinical forms. The factors that determine the outcome of an initial inoculation with Leishmania are many, with the species of Leishmania representing one of the strongest predictive factors for the development of a given clinical form of disease. This is seen with L. braziliensis and L. amazonensis, infection leading mostly to tegumentary forms of disease, and L. infantum with the potential to induce visceral disease. However, it is also clear that the host immune response is a key factor in disease progression, not only responsible for control of Leishmania, but also playing an important role in disease progression and pathology. This duality between protective and pathogenic immune responses in individuals infected with Leishmania in the Americas is the focus of this review.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available