查看文章

Considering the complexity of the immunological events triggered during active visceral Leishmaniasis (VL), the relevance of the segregation of the immune response during human VL into type 1 and type 2 still remains unclear. For this purpose, in individuals living in risk areas for VL, we have evaluated especially asymptomatic individuals and patients with active VL, the plasmatic levels of cytokines and reactive nitrogen species under ex vivo conditions. In addition, we have also performed an analysis of intracellular cytokine patterns of circulating leucocytes after short-term culture, particularly in the absence of antigenic-specific stimulation, in order to reflect dynamic events of immune response in vivo during Leishmania chagasi infection. Although asymptomatic individuals and non-infected subjects presented a similar immunological profile, an outstanding inflammatory/regulatory profile, based on higher …