TY - JOUR T1 - BALB/c Mice Deficient in CD4+ T Cell IL-4Rα Expression Control Leishmania mexicana Load although Female but Not Male Mice Develop a Healer Phenotype A1 - Bryson, Karen J. A1 - Millington, Owain R. A1 - Mokgethi, Thabang A1 - McGachy, H. Adrienne A1 - Brombacher, Frank A1 - Alexander, James Y1 - 2011/01/04 N2 - Author Summary Leishmania species are parasites, transmitted by sandflies which are of extensive public health importance in the tropical and subtropical regions of the world. A large number of distinct Leishmania species cause cutaneous disease and the vast majority of studies utilize the caustive agent of Old World cutaneous leishmaniasis, L. major. Other species, for example, L. mexicana, are associated with quite different patterns of disease following infection of mice when compared with L. major. Thus, while susceptible BALB/c mice deficient in the ability to respond to the cytokines IL-4/IL-13 are not protected against development of cutaneous leishmaniasis caused by L. major they are totally resistant to infection with L. mexicana. Here we describe the outcome of L. mexicana infection in BALB/c mice with cell-specific deletion of the receptor for IL-4/IL-13 on macrophages/neutrophils or T helper cells. Infections develop in both mutants but lesion growth is controlled only in T cell specific knockouts and female but not male mice heal. Male but not female T cell specific knockouts maintain a strong IL-4/IL-13 response. This highlights the role of IL4/IL-13 in driving a non-healing response and may in part explain why human males are more susceptible to this infection than females. JF - PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases JA - PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases VL - 5 IS - 1 UR - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0000930 SP - e930 EP - PB - Public Library of Science M3 - doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0000930 ER -