Establishment of in vitro and in vivo experimental models to study the host-parasite interaction in atypical cutaneous leishmaniasis caused by Leishmania infantum

• Grant number: 24/09818-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: May 01, 2025
• End date: April 30, 2027
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Medicine - Pathological Anatomy and Clinical Pathology
• Principal Investigator: Marcia Dalastra Laurenti
• Grantee: Anwar Ibrahem Abdalrasul Alduma
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina (FM). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 14/50315-0 - Leishmaniasis in Latin America: an advanced perspective on immunopathogenetic factors of cutaneous and visceral infection, immunomodulators of the sandflies vector saliva and immunogenic exo-antigens of Leishmania (L.) infantum chagasi as vaccine candidates, AP.TEM

Abstract

The infection by Leishmania infantum causes visceral leishmaniasis in the New and Old World, which is fatal if not treated. Bisedes that, in some countries of Central America, L. infantum is able to cause an atypical clinical manifestation called non-ulcerated cutaneous leishmaniasis, different from that cause by the same specie of parasite in South America and Europe that is characterized by ulcerative cutaneous lesions. Despite of the efforts of our research group, in the recent years, to better understand the pathophysiology of atypiccal cutaneous leishmaniasis caused by L. infantum, there remain important gaps in knowledge of this rare host-parasite interaction, in which a viscerotropic parasite, L. infantum, establishes cutaneous infection in humans and does not spread to viscera like as spleen and liver. Furthermore, to date, there is no explanation for the same species of parasite cause non-ulcerated skin lesion in Central America and ulcerated cutaneous leishmanasis in South America and Europe. So, the main objective of this project is establish in vitro and in vivo experimental models to deeping in the knowledge of this host-parasite interaction to better understanding the phisiopathology of the cutaneous and visceral infection caused by L. infantum.