Potential Use of Interleukin-10 Blockade as a Therapeutic Strategy in Human Cutaneous Leishmaniasis

Interleukin-10 overproduction has been associated with worse prognosis in human cutaneous leishmaniasis,while ifn-γ-dependent responses are associated with parasite killing and host protection. innovative strategies are needed to overcome therapeutic failure observed in endemic areas. the use of monoclonal antibody-based immunotherapy targeting il-10 cytokine was evaluated here. partial il-10 blockade in leishmania braziliensis whole soluble antigen-stimulated cells from endemic area cl patients with active or healed lesions and asymptomatic controls was evaluated. overall decrease in il-10,il-4,and tnf- production was observed in all groups of subjects. only patients with active lesions still produced some levels of tnf- after anti-il-10 stimulation in association with leishmania antigens. moreover,this strategy showed limited modulatory effects on ifn-γ-dependent chemokine cxcl10 production. results suggest the potential immunotherapeutic use of partial il-10 blockade in localized cutaneous leishmaniasis. © 2015 lucio roberto castellano et al.