Author(s): Marques, Filipe ; Vale-Costa, Sílvia ; Cruz, Tânia ; Marques, Joana Moreira ; Silva, Tânia ; Neves, João Vilares ; Cortes, Sofia ; Fernandes, Ana ; Rocha, Eduardo ; Appelberg, Rui ; Rodrigues, Pedro ; Tomás, Ana M. ; Gomes, Maria Salomé
Date: 2015
Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.7/537
Origin: ARCA - Access to Research and Communication Annals
Subject(s): Leishmania infantum
Visceral leishmaniasis is a severe and potentially fatal disease caused by protozoa of the genus Leishmania, transmitted by phlebotomine sandflies. In Europe and the Mediterranean region, L. infantum is the commonest agent of visceral leishmaniasis, causing a wide spectrum of clinical manifestations, including asymptomatic carriage, cutaneous lesions and severe visceral disease. Visceral leishmaniasis is more frequent in immunocompromised individuals and data obtained in experimental models of infection have highlighted the importance of the host immune response, namely the efficient activation of host's macrophages, in determining infection outcome. Conversely, few studies have addressed a possible contribution of parasite variability to this outcome.
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