%0 Journal Article
%T Cytokine profile and pathology in human leishmaniasis
%A Ribeiro-de-Jesus A.
%A Almeida R.P.
%A Lessa H.
%A Bacellar O.
%J Brazilian Journal of Medical and Biological Research
%D 1998
%I Associa??o Brasileira de Divulga??o Cient¨ªfica
%X The clinical spectrum of leishmaniasis and control of the infection are influenced by the parasite-host relationship. The role of cellular immune responses of the Th1 type in the protection against disease in experimental and human leishmaniasis is well established. In humans, production of IFN-g is associated with the control of infection in children infected by Leishmania chagasi. In visceral leishmaniasis, an impairment in IFN-g production and high IL-4 and IL-10 levels (Th2 cytokines) are observed in antigen-stimulated peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). Moreover, IL-12 restores IFN-g production and enhances the cytotoxic response. IL-10 is the cytokine involved in down-regulation of IFN-g production, since anti-IL-10 monoclonal antibody (mAb) restores in vitro IFN-g production and lymphoproliferative responses, and IL-10 abrogates the effect of IL-12. In cutaneous and mucosal leishmaniasis, high levels of IFN-g are found in L. amazonensis-stimulated PBMC. However, low or absent IFN-g levels were observed in antigen-stimulated PBMC from 50% of subjects with less than 60 days of disease (24 ¡À 26 pg/ml). This response was restored by IL-12 (308 ¡À 342 pg/ml) and anti-IL-10 mAb (380 ¡À 245 pg/ml) (P<0.05). Later during the disease, high levels of IFN-g and TNF-a are produced both in cutaneous and mucosal leishmaniasis. After treatment there is a decrease in TNF-a levels (366 ¡À 224 pg/ml before treatment vs 142 ¡À 107 pg/ml after treatment, P = 0.02). Although production of IFN-g and TNF-a might be involved in the control of parasite multiplication in the early phases of Leishmania infection, these cytokines might also be involved in the tissue damage seen in tegumentary leishmaniasis
%K leishmaniasis
%K human leishmaniasis
%K cytokines
%K pathology
%K immunological responses
%U http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0100-879X1998000100020