Leishmaniasis immunopathology —impact on design and use of vaccines, diagnostics and drugs

AbstractLeishmaniasis is a disease complex caused by 20 species of protozoan parasites belonging to the genusLeishmania. In humans, it has two main clinical forms, visceral leishmaniasis (VL) and cutaneous or tegumentary leishmaniasis (CL), as well as several other cutaneous manifestations in a minority of cases. In the mammalian hostLeishmania parasites infect different populations of macrophages where they multiply and survive in the phagolysosomal compartment. The progression of both VL and CL depends on the maintenance of a parasite-specific immunosuppressive state based around this host macrophage infection. The complexity and variation of immune responses and immunopathology in humans and the different host interactions of the differentLeishmania species has an impact upon the effectiveness of vaccines, diagnostics and drugs.
Source: Seminars in Immunopathology - Category: Pathology Source Type: research