title: Nitric oxide and cellular immunity in experimental cutaneous leishmaniasis.
abstract: We examined the local and systemic production of nitric oxide (NO) and the pattern of cytokine during the course of Leishmania mexicana infection in susceptible BALB/c and resistant C57BL/6 mice. NO derivatives were measured in serum, and the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), interferon (IFN-gamma), interleukin (IL-4) and epidermal Langerhans cells (LC) was measured in the lesions by immunohistology. Circulating NO concentrations, iNOS+ cell density, IFN-gamma+ Th1 cells and CD205+ Langerhans cells were higher in early lesions of resistant C57BL/6 mice. In contrast, susceptible BALB/c mice developed chronic and progressive lesions with a predominance of IL-4+ Th2 cells. In both susceptible and resistant mice, lesion size and lymph node volume followed a similar course. The early local and systemic production of NO in resistant mice may be related with the premature production of IFN-gamma observed, contributing to the resolution of the lesion.
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Biología Molecular, Instituto de Biomedicina, Universidad Central de Venezuela, Caracas, Venezuela.
authors.forename: N L
authors.initials: NL
authors.lastname: Díaz
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fernández
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Figueira
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ramírez
authors.forename: I B
authors.initials: IB
authors.lastname: Monsalve
authors.forename: F J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Tapia
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016207:Cytokines / Q000096:biosynthesis; D018450:Disease Progression; D004198:Disease Susceptibility; D005260:Female; D007111:Immunity, Cellular; D016130:Immunophenotyping; D007801:Langerhans Cells / Q000276:immunology; D007894:Leishmania mexicana; D016773:Leishmaniasis, Cutaneous / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology*; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D017942:Nitric Acid / Q000097:blood; D009569:Nitric Oxide / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D019001:Nitric Oxide Synthase / Q000096:biosynthesis; D052247:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II; D016176:T-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D016207:Cytokines; D009569:Nitric Oxide; D017942:Nitric Acid; D019001:Nitric Oxide Synthase; D052247:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II; C496317:Nos2 protein, mouse