plasma levels of interlukin-4 and interferon- in patients with chronic or healed cutaneous leishmaniasis

objective(s):in this study, the serum level of interferon-γ (ifn- γ) and interlukin-4 (il-4) was evaluated as a marker of th1 and th2 immune response that influence the clinical course of cutaneous leishmaniasis[r1] . materials and methods: this cross-sectional study was conducted on 44 cases of cutaneous leishmaniasis (21 cases with healed lesions and 23 cases with chronic non-healing lesions. thirty-two non-infected persons living in the area were considered as controls. serum levels of ifn- γ and il-4 were determined using elisa, and the results along with clinical data were analyzed using spss 11.5. results: serum ifn-γ level was not significantly different between various patient groups and control (p=0.27), but the serum level of il-4 in patient groups was higher than in healthy subjects, and it was higher in patients with non-healed chronic cutaneous leishmaniasis than those with healed lesions (p<0.01). conclusion: serum il-4 level is a good marker for evaluation of the clinical course of cutaneous leishmaniasis.