The <i>Leishmania</i> Skin Test Predicts Clinic-Immunologic and Therapeutic Outcomes in Cutaneous Leishmaniasis

Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL), caused by <i>Leishmania braziliensis</i>, is closely associated with a severe form of the disease, indicated by a positive <i>Leishmania</i> skin test (LST) that assesses and reflects the presence of immune T cells specific to <i>Leishmania...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Luiz H. Guimarães, Evelyn Zacarias, Sandra T. Nolasco, Almério N. Filho, Jamile Lago, Paulo R. L. Machado, Joyce Oliveira, Lucas P. Carvalho, Augusto Carvalho, Edgar M. Carvalho, Sérgio Arruda
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2024-11-01
Series:Pathogens
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0817/13/11/1018
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL), caused by <i>Leishmania braziliensis</i>, is closely associated with a severe form of the disease, indicated by a positive <i>Leishmania</i> skin test (LST) that assesses and reflects the presence of immune T cells specific to <i>Leishmania</i> antigens. In this study, we compare the clinical, immunologic, and histopathologic features between <i>Leishmania</i> skin test-positive (LST+) and <i>Leishmania</i> skin test-negative (LST-) in CL. Compared to LST+ patients, LST- patients had larger lesions and had been sicker for longer, presented with more instances of therapeutic failure with meglumine antimonate, (MA) and the healing times were higher than LST+. While granulomas were less frequent and the parasite load was higher in LST-, there were more CD8+ T cells and an enhanced production of Granzyme B in the supernatants of biopsies from LST- subjects. This study shows that in LST-, an impairment in Th1 immune response is associated with a high parasite burden, and the pathology is mediated by CD8+ T cells and the enhanced production of Granzyme B. The abnormalities in the immunologic response in LST- patients lead to a more severe disease with a high rate of failure to therapy.
ISSN:2076-0817