The Immunology of Cutaneous Leishmaniasis: Experimental Infections and Human Disease

Abstract

Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is a term used to describe a group of diseases caused by multiple species of parasites within the genus Leishmania. Most cases of cutaneous leishmaniasis will spontaneously heal without external intervention, although the severity of disease and time course for healing may vary enormously depending on the species of infecting parasite as well as the nature of die immune response by an infected individual. Current estimates suggest a global annual incidence of 1–1.5 cases of CL, most of which occur in Afghanistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Syria in the Old World and Brazil and Peru in the New World (). Since most species of Leishmania causing human disease also infect mice, murine cutaneous leishmaniasis has been extensively studied as a model for understanding the immune regulation of this intracellular infection. This chapter will summarize how knowledge of experimental murine infections has impacted our understanding of human disease.