Innate Immune Effectors and Leishmania: an Overview of Complexities

Leishmaniasis represents a pool of debilitating clinical manifestations affecting several individuals globally. The disease remains a serious global health and affects individuals in tropical and subtropical regions. The disease is endemic in several areas of South America, East Africa, the Indian sub-continent and the Mediterranean basin. The bite of female Phlebotomine sand establishes the infection of the Leishmania parasite within human flies belonging to the family Psychodidae (subfamily: Phlebotominae) of class Diptera. Several species of Leishmania parasite serve as the infectious trigger associated with varying clinical presentation of the disease. The immune response against the different parasitizing species varies, resulting in a complex response by innate immune cells. The present review summarizes some of the key innate immune effector cells involved during the infection with the Leishmania parasite in a quest to provide a deeper understanding of Leishmania- mediated immunobiology. The review also summarizes an up-to-date understanding of several strategies adopted by the parasite to evade immune response mediated by altering the functioning of some key innate immune effector cells. A better understanding of these immuno-biological events within the infected individual would help formulate immune-therapeutical interventions against the disease.