Epidermal Langerhans Cells and Dendritic Epidermal T Cells in Murine Cutaneous Leishmaniasis. lmmunocytochemical Study.

Abstract

In the present study, Langerhans cells (LC) and Dendritic Epidermal T Cells (DETC) were studied in Leishmania susceptible BALB/c and resistant C57BL/6 inbred mice LC and DETC were characterized immunocytochemically using the monoclonal antibodies NLDC-145 and Thy-1 2 respectively. A positive Pearson's correlation was observed in healthy BA LB/c and C57BL/6 mice, where the density of both cell types always drifted in the same direction. In contras no correlation was observed in the L. mexicana-infected mice. These results show that the balance between LC and DETC is altered by the parasite insult. The LC/DETC ratio was always higher in healthy mice than in L. mexicana-infected mice. In addition, the differences between healthy and infected animals were greater in BALB/c than in C57BL/6. Even though, the absolute numbers were always higher for LC than for DETC, the cellular increment after the infection was more prominent in the DETC population. The present study showed differences in the epidermal involvement of susceptible and resistant mouse models of leishmaniasis.