interferon-gamma and interlukin-4 patterns in balb/c mice suffering from cutaneous leishmaniasis treated with cantharidin

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-ϒ 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.