ASSOCIATION OF LEISHMANIA HEAT-SHOCK-PROTEIN-83 ANTIGEN AND IMMUNOGLOBULIN G4 ANTIBODY-TITERS IN BRAZILIAN PATIENTS WITH DIFFUSE CUTANEOUS LEISHMANIASIS

Diffuse cutaneous leishmaniasis (DCL) is characterized by the presence of numerous nonulcerated nodules and plaques containing large numbers of Leishmania amazonensis parasites and few lymphoid elements. The im mune responses of DCL patients reflect severe antigen-specific T-cell deficiencies, while the antibody response to Leishmania antigens is of ten accentuated. We report herein on the Leishmania antigen-specific a ntibody subclass distribution in DCL patients and demonstrate that a d ominant antigen contributing to the biased immunoglobulin G4 antibody subclass in sera of DCL patients is Leismania heat shock protein 83.