The pathogenicity and virulence of Leishmania - interplay of virulence factors with host defenses

ABSTRACT

Leishmaniasis is a group of disease caused by the intracellular protozoan parasite of the genus Leishmania. Infection by different species of Leishmania results in various host immune responses, which usually lead to parasite clearance and may also contribute to pathogenesis and, hence, increasing the complexity of the disease. Interestingly, the parasite tends to reside within the unfriendly environment of the macrophages and has evolved various survival strategies to evade or modulate host immune defense. This can be attributed to the array of virulence factors of the vicious parasite, which target important host functioning and machineries. This review encompasses a holistic overview of leishmanial virulence factors, their role in assisting parasite-mediated evasion of host defense weaponries, and modulating epigenetic landscapes of host immune regulatory genes. Furthermore, the review also discusses the diagnostic potential of various leishmanial virulence factors and the advent of immunomodulators as futuristic antileishmanial drug therapy.

KEYWORDS:

• Leishmania
• macrophage
• virulence factor
• signaling pathways
• ncRNAs
• diagnosis
• therapeutics
• immunomodulators

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

All the relevant data (tables and figures) of this review are available.

Additional information

Funding

This work has, in part, received funding from UK Research and Innovation via the Global Challenges Research Fund under grant agreement “A Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases” grant number Global Challenges Research Fund (NTD) MR/P027989/1, Sir J. C. Bose Fellowship, India, and Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, India.