Functional heterogeneity of CD4+ T cells in leishmaniasis

In this article F.Y. Liew summarizes the evidence for the functional heterogeneity of CD4+ T cells from studies of immune regulation in the parasitic disease, leishmaniasis. Recent findings suggest that the heterogeneity of CD4+ T cells may extend beyond the current Th1 and Th2 classification and that these T-cell subsets manifest some of their functions via the lymphokines they secrete, and that the balance of these determines the outcome of the infection.