il-23 and il-27 levels in macrophages collected from peripheral blood of patients with healing vs non-healing form of cutaneous leishmaniasis

background: in this study the level of il-23 and il-27 produced by macrophages derived from peri­pheral blood mononuclear cell culture collected from patients with healing or non-healing form of cutane­ous leishmaniasis lesion were compared before and after treatment with live leishmania to explore whether il-23 or il-27 plays any role in healing process of cutaneous lesions induced by l. major . methods: twenty patients resident in isfahan province, with healing or non-healing form of cutaneous leishmaniasis lesion caused by leishmania major participated in this study. in vitro productions of il-23 and il-27 by peripheral blood derived macrophages, before and after stimulation with live l. major (mrho/ir/75/er) promastigotes were evaluated using elisa method . patient with healing form of le­sion received no treatment and patient with non-healing form of lesion received at least 2 courses of glucan­time. results: the mean production of il-23 and il-27 from macrophages of patients with healing form of lesion was significantly higher than patients with non-healing form of lesion. the levels of il-23 and il-27 in culture supernatants before and after stimulation in healing form of cl was significantly higher than non- healing form of cl ( p < 0.001). conclusion: il-23 and il-27 might play a role in human leishmaniasis and further studies are needed to understand the role of il-23 and il-27 in leishmaniasis.