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Updated: Apr 21, 2026
In vivo Imaging of Transgenic Leishmania Parasites in a Live Host
Published on: July 27, 2010
Interferon-gamma and interlukin-4 patterns in BALB/c mice suffering from cutaneous leishmaniasis treated with
Yahya Maroufi1, Fatemeh Ghaffarifar2, Abdolhosein Dalimi2
1Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Zabol University of Medical Sciences, Zabol, IR Iran.
Background:
Cutaneous leishmaniasis is a health problem in the world. Lesions should be treated on cosmetically or functionally important sites, such as the face and hands. Cantharidin is a terpenoid compound produced naturally by beetles of Meloidae and Oedemeridae families.
Objectives:
The current study aimed to investigate the effect of cantharidin on Cutaneous Leishmaniasis (CL) lesions and IFN-γ and IL-4 patterns in infected BALB/c mice.
Materials And Methods:
INFECTED BALB/C MICE WERE DIVIDED INTO FIVE GROUPS AS: untreated (control group), eucerin-treated and 0.05%, 0.1% and 0.5% cantharidin-treated. Lesions diameter was measured by Vernier caliper every three days for four weeks. Cytokines levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using U-CyTech kit.
Results:
The results indicated that treatment with cantharidin exacerbates lesions compared with the controls, except for 0.05% cantharidin dose that restrained lesion growth significantly. Interferon gamma level in cantharidin-treated groups was significantly less than that of the control group. But interlukin-4 level was similar among the groups.
Conclusions:
The current study results indicated that high doses of cantharidin exacerbates leishmaniasis lesion, but low dose of cantharidin inhibits lesion growth.
