Chemokines and chemokine receptors expression in the
lesions of patients with American cutaneous leishmaniasis |
| |
Authors: | Nilka Luisa Díaz Olga Zerpa Félix Jacobo Tapia |
| |
Institution: | Instituto de Biomedicina, Universidad Central de Venezuela, Caracas, Venezuela |
| |
Abstract: | American cutaneous leishmaniasis (ACL) presents distinct active
clinical forms with different grades of severity, known as localised (LCL),
intermediate (ICL) and diffuse (DCL) cutaneous leishmaniasis. LCL and DCL are
associated with a polarised T-helper (Th)1 and Th2 immune response,
respectively, whereas ICL, or chronic cutaneous leishmaniasis, is associated
with an exacerbated immune response and a mixed cytokine expression profile.
Chemokines and chemokine receptors are involved in cellular migration and are
critical in the inflammatory response. Therefore, we evaluated the expression of
the chemokines CXCL10, CCL4, CCL8, CCL11 and CXCL8 and the chemokine receptors
CCR3, CXCR3, CCR5 and CCR7 in the lesions of patients with different clinical
forms of ACL using immunohistochemistry. LCL patients exhibited a high density
of CXCL10+, CCL4+ and CCL8+ cells, indicating an important role for these
chemokines in the local Th1 immune response and the migration of CXCR3+ cells.
LCL patients showed a higher density of CCR7+ cells than ICL or DCL patients,
suggesting major dendritic cell (DC) migration to lymph nodes. Furthermore, DCL
was associated with low expression levels of Th1-associated chemokines and
CCL11+ epidermal DCs, which contribute to the recruitment of CCR3+ cells. Our
findings also suggest an important role for epidermal cells in the induction of
skin immune responses through the production of chemokines, such as CXCL10, by
keratinocytes. |
| |
Keywords: | chemokine chemokine receptor cutaneous leishmaniasis |
|
|