Leishmania (Viannia) panamensis-induced cutaneous leishmaniasis in Balb/c mice: pathology

Leishmania (Viannia) panamensis infected Balb/c mice developed a progressive swelling in the injected footpad that grew to a tumour-like lesion from day 80 onwards. We did not observe any typical ulcera, necrosis or metastasis to other parts of the skin. Neither did we observe any histopathological changes in liver or spleen during the experiment. At the site of injection, we observed progressive changes ranging from a moderate, mixed inflammatory infiltrate with few leishmania amastigotes in the macrophages to an extensive inflammation composed of monomorphic vacuolated macrophages containing large numbers of parasites. A granulomatous pattern with presence of epithelioid cells and a few multinucleated giant cells was observed at the initial phase of the infection. During later stages, focal necrosis with polymorphonuclear neutrophils was seen. Lymph nodes presented granulomatous lesions in the subcapsular area, numerous plasma cells in the medullary cords and macrophages with leishmania organisms in dilated cortical sinuses at the 4th and the 6th months of infection. This Leishmania (Viannia) panamensis infected Balb/c mice seems to be a good model for continued studies of the pathogenesis of cutaneous leishmaniasis and also for drug trials in the development of new therapeutic tools.