Resolving lesions in human cutaneous leishmaniasis predominantly harbour chemokine receptor CXCR3-positive T helper 1/T cytotoxic type 1 cells

Summary Background  Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is an epidemic disease affecting millions of individuals worldwide. Treatment options have several side-effects and a vaccine does not exist at present. Objectives  To translate information about protection against CL from mice to man, we studied the local immune response in CL skin biopsies and correlated these findings with clinical information. Methods  The frequency of inflammatory cells was determined in skin biopsies of 20 patients diagnosed with CL using immunohistochemistry. In addition, the nature of the resulting adaptive immune response was assessed by (double) immunostaining against CD4 and chemokine receptors CXCR3 (T helper 1, T…