Immunomodulation by chemotherapeutic agents against Leishmaniasis

Leishmaniasis is caused by protozoan parasites of the genus Leishmania and causes a wide spectrum of clinical manifestations ranging from self-healing cutaneous lesions to the fatal visceral form. The use of pentavalent antimony, the mainstay of therapy of Leishmaniasis is now limited by its toxicity and alarming increase in unresponsiveness, especially in the Indian subcontinent. Furthermore, other anti-leishmanial drugs are unaffordable in many affected countries and as vaccination based approaches have not yet proved to be effective, chemotherapy remains the only alternative, emphasizing the need for identifying novel drug targets. In this review, we have described the different host immune signaling pathways that could be considered as potential drug targets for Leishmania chemotherapy. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.