Leishmania infantum induces expression of the negative regulatory checkpoint, CTLA‐4, by human naïve CD8+ T cells

Aims CD8+ T cells are important in mediating protective responses to intracellular pathogens. However, an uncontrolled response may lead to pathology. The role of CD8+ T cells in different clinical manifestations of human leishmaniasis is controversial and poorly understood. We aim to study the response of CD8+ T cells to the first exposure to different strains of Leishmania, seeking to correlate these findings with clinical manifestations of disease. Methods and results We have evaluated the expression of granzyme A, inflammatory and anti‐inflammatory cytokines, as well as CTLA‐4 by human naïve CD8+ T cells exposed to Leishmania braziliensis and two different strains of Leishmania infantum in vitro. We observed that while exposure to L braziliensis induced an inflammatory profile, as measured by the expression of granzyme A, IFN‐gamma and IL‐17, as well as a higher IFN/IL‐10 ratio, exposure to L infantum led to a regulatory profile, as measured by lower IFN/IL‐10 ratio and higher expression of CTLA‐4. Conclusion These results may help explain why patients with the visceral clinical form present a weaker cellular response and, consequently, a worse outcome of the disease. The use of CTLA‐4 checkpoint inhibitors may emerge as a potential immunotherapy to ameliorate the immune response in visceral leishmaniasis patients.