title: Serum levels of tumor necrosis factor in patients with American cutaneous leishmaniasis.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to evaluate serum levels of TNF-alpha in patients with either of the three clinical forms of American cutaneous leishmaniasis. The 86 patients examined were classified as having either the localized (LCL: 22 patients), mucocutaneous (MCL: 45 patients), or the rare diffuse (DCL: 19 patients) form of the disease. Our results show a significant increase in the mean level of TNF-alpha in the three groups of patients when compared to controls. MCL patients produce significantly higher levels of TNF-alpha than DCL patients. The proportion of individuals positive for serum TNF-alpha was significantly higher in both MCL and DCL patients than in the controls. No significant differences were found in the level of TNF-alpha when compared between before and after cure of 12 patients with MCL. There were no significant correlations between the level of TNF-alpha and the skin test diameter. The results will be discussed in terms of the pathogenesis of the disease in its different clinical forms.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Biomedicina, Escuela J.M. Vargas, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Central de Venezuela, Caracas.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Castes
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Trujillo
authors.forename: M E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Rojas
authors.forename: C T
authors.initials: CT
authors.lastname: Fernandez
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Araya
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cabrera
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Blackwell
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Convit
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D000953:Antigens, Protozoan / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006968:Hypersensitivity, Delayed / Q000276:immunology; D007891:Leishmania / Q000276:immunology; D016773:Leishmaniasis, Cutaneous / Q000097:blood*; D016774:Leishmaniasis, Diffuse Cutaneous / Q000097:blood; D007897:Leishmaniasis, Mucocutaneous / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000953:Antigens, Protozoan; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha