title: Interleukin-10 and the pathogenesis of human visceral leishmaniasis.
abstract: The mechanisms underlying the failure to control the growth and systemic spread of Leishmania parasites in human visceral leishmaniasis (VL) are not well understood. Although the absence of antigen-specific Th1 responses in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells from VL patients is thought to be causally related to disease progression, the finding that these patients also express elevated interferon-gamma mRNA in lesional tissue, as well as elevated serum levels of proinflammatory cytokines, suggests that their immunological defect cannot be explained simply by immune tolerance or Th2 polarization. As a possible homeostatic mechanism to control persistent infection-induced inflammation, elevated levels of the regulatory cytokine interleukin (IL)-10 have been reported repeatedly in clinical studies of VL. Here, we review the studies with relevance to immune responses in human VL and highlight the central role that IL-10 might have in the pathogenesis of VL and as a target for immune-based therapy.
authors: Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases, Bldg 4 RmB1-12, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, 4 Center Drive MSC0425, Bethesda, MD 20892-0425, USA.
authors: Susanne
authors: S
authors: Nylén
authors: David
authors: D
authors: Sacks
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D016753:Interleukin-10 / Q000502:physiology*; D007893:Leishmania donovani / Q000254:growth & development / Q000276:immunology; D018314:Leishmania infantum / Q000254:growth & development / Q000276:immunology; D007898:Leishmaniasis, Visceral / Q000209:etiology* / Q000276:immunology / Q000469:parasitology*
chemical_list: D016753:Interleukin-10