title: Activated inflammatory T cells correlate with lesion size in human cutaneous leishmaniasis.
abstract: Leishmaniasis is an important parasitic disease affecting millions worldwide. In attempts to understand the clinical relevance of immunological measurements as determined using flow cytometry, several immunological phenotypes were determined for a group of well defined human leishmaniasis patients and correlated with clinical measurements of the disease (Montenegro skin test (MST) and lesion area). The analysis demonstrated a positive correlation between the MST size and the frequency of ex vivo recent activated CD4(+) T cells. In contrast, higher frequencies of recent activated CD8(+) T cells were correlated with a smaller MST size. Moreover, a positive correlation was observed between the lesion total area and the frequency of activated CD69(+) (ex vivo) and CD40L(+) (cultured with Leishmania soluble antigen (SLA)) T lymphocytes. Finally, larger lesions were also correlated with a higher frequency of SLA specific inflammatory cytokine (IFN-gamma or TNF-alpha) producing lymphocytes. These studies demonstrate that immunological markers are correlated with clinical indicators of human leishmaniasis and serve to better understand the evolution of this important parasitic disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry-Immunology, Institute of Biological Sciences-Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG-ICB), Av. Antonio Carlos, 6627 Belo Horizonte, MG 31640-970, Brazil.
authors.forename: Lis R V
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Antonelli
authors.forename: Walderez O
authors.initials: WO
authors.lastname: Dutra
authors.forename: Roque P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Almeida
authors.forename: Olivia
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Bacellar
authors.forename: Edgar M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Carvalho
authors.forename: Kenneth J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Gollob
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016773:Leishmaniasis, Cutaneous / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology*; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology* / Q000276:immunology*