Healing of leishmaniasis-a parasitic skin disease-is associated with high levels of secreted interferon (IFN)γ and IL-12 in resistant C57BL/6 mice and humans. Susceptible BALB/c mice predominantly react with a Th17/Th2/Treg-related immune response and finally succumb to infection. Previously, we showed that BALB/c IL-17A-/- mice are protected against Leishmania (L.) major infections, indicating that IL-17A-predominantly produced by Th17 cells-plays an important role for disease outcome. We now investigated DC-derived cytokines and finally identified IL-23p19 as key cytokine responsible for induction of Leishmania-specific Th17 cells that play an important role for progressive disease in susceptible BALB/c mice.
Keywords: IL-23; Leishmaniasis; Pathogenic; Th17.
© 2017 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.