TGF-β1 polymorphism in American tegumentary leishmaniasis in a Southern Brazilian population.

Introduction: Genetic polymorphisms define the cytokine production leading to susceptibility or resistance to diseases. We studied the cytokine polymorphism in the development of tegumentary leishmaniasis (TL).

Methods: Genotyping of TNF-α, TGF-β1, IFN-γ, IL-6, and IL-10 were performed by polymerase chain reaction assay.

Association between HLA genes and American cutaneous leishmaniasis in endemic regions of Southern Brazil.

Background: The present study sought to investigate the association between HLA-A, HLA-B and HLA-DRB1 genes and susceptibility or resistance to the different clinical manifestations of American cutaneous leishmaniasis (ACL) in southern Brazil.

Methods: The sample consisted of 169 patients with a diagnosis of ACL and 270 healthy subjects for comparison. HLA-A, HLA-B and HLA-DRB1 were typed by PCR-SSO reverse dot blot.

Effect of the chemokine receptor CCR5 in the development of American cutaneous leishmaniasis in a Southern Brazilian population.

American cutaneous leishmaniasis (ACL) shows a wide spectrum of clinical and immunopathological manifestations. The CCR5 chemokine receptor directs the immune response to a Th1 pattern and the mutant allele of this genotype (Δ32/Δ32) results in a less effective response, thus leading to a milder inflammation. The objective of the present study was to investigate the effect of the CCR5 chemokine receptor in the pathogenesis of ACL in a population of Southern Brazil.