Leishmaniasis is a vector-borne neglected tropical disease endemic in over 100 countries around the world. Available control measures are not always successful, therapeutic options are limited, and there is no vaccine available against human leishmaniasis, although several candidate antigens have been evaluated over the last decades. Plenty of studies have aimed to evaluate the immune response development and a diverse range of host immune factors have been described to be associated with protection or disease progression in leishmaniasis; however, to date, no comprehensive biomarker(s) have been identified as surrogate marker of protection or exacerbation, and lack of enough information remains a barrier for vaccine development. Most of the current understanding of the role of different markers of immune response in leishmaniasis has been collected from experimental animal models. Although the data generated from the animal models are crucial, it might not always be extrapolated to humans. Here, we briefly review the events during Leishmania invasion of host cells and the immune responses induced against Leishmania in animal models and humans and their potential role as a biomarker of protection against human leishmaniasis.

利什曼病是一种媒介传播的被忽视的热带病，在全球 100 多个国家流行。可用的控制措施并不总是成功的，治疗选择有限，并且没有针对人类利什曼病的疫苗，尽管在过去几十年中已经评估了几种候选抗原。大量研究旨在评估免疫反应的发展，并且已经描述了多种宿主免疫因子与利什曼病的保护或疾病进展有关；然而，迄今为止，还没有综合生物标志物被确定为保护或恶化的替代标志物，缺乏足够的信息仍然是疫苗开发的障碍。目前对不同免疫反应标志物在利什曼病中的作用的大部分理解都是从实验动物模型中收集的。尽管动物模型产生的数据至关重要，但它可能并不总是外推到人类身上。在这里，我们简要回顾一下期间的事件利什曼原虫对宿主细胞的侵袭和在动物模型和人类中诱导的针对利什曼原虫的免疫反应及其作为保护人类利什曼病的生物标志物的潜在作用。