title: The flow-cytometry-based evaluation of cellular immunity in cases of cutaneous leishmaniasis and healthy controls from the endemic area in southern Israel.
abstract: Only limited data are available on the early immunological events associated with human cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL). In this study, peripheral-blood mononuclear cells were obtained from 66 individuals (34 patients with cutaneous lesions and 32 apparently healthy controls) who had each spent no more than 3 months in the endemic region of Qetzioth, in southern Israel. These cells' responses to Leishmania major antigen were then explored, by the flow-cytometry-based evaluation of blast transformation (BT). The lymphocytes from 17 (50%) of the patients but only one (3%) of the controls displayed BT. When, in an ELISA, most (52) of the subjects were checked for anti-L. major antibodies, none of the 22 controls investigated but 19 (63%) of the 30 patients were found seropositive. Although 14 (47%) of the 30 patients who were checked for antibodies were BT-positive, the seropositive patients were not significantly more or less likely to be BT-positive than the seronegative patients (P<0.919). These data indicate that, in CL, the hosts' cellular and humoral responses develop independently within the first 3 months post-infection, but further investigation is required to confirm this hypothesis.
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Biotechnology, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, P.O.B. 653, Beer-Sheva 84105, Israel.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Fishman
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bazarsky
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sneir
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Klement
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Orr
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kayouf
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Segal
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: El-On
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan / Q000032:analysis; D000917:Antibody Formation / Q000276:immunology; D000953:Antigens, Protozoan / Q000276:immunology; D019353:Endemic Diseases; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000379:methods; D005434:Flow Cytometry / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007111:Immunity, Cellular / Q000276:immunology*; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000276:immunology; D007557:Israel / Q000453:epidemiology; D018320:Leishmania major / Q000276:immunology; D016773:Leishmaniasis, Cutaneous / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology*; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000276:immunology; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan; D000953:Antigens, Protozoan; D007074:Immunoglobulin G