Nearly a million people worldwide are plagued annually by skin leishmaniasis, a devastating skin infection caused by the parasite Leishmania. Which mainly affect vulnerable populations in tropical and subtropical areas such as North Africa and South America, this disease thrives in areas characterized by malnutrition, poor housing and displacement of the population. Left without treatment, can lead to lifelong scars, debilitating disability and deep social stigma. Despite its global impact, there is no vaccine and existing therapies are ineffective, toxic and difficult to spread.
A new study published in the magazine Nature communications On April 4, 2025, it could turn the way in which health care providers approach the treatment of this deforming disease. A team of researchers from the University of Maryland and the Centro Internacional de Entrenamiento e Investigiones Médicas (Cideim) in Colombia has discovered a way to predict whether a patient suffering from skin leishmaniasis will respond to the most common treatment, possibly saving patients from months of spectacular, inexcusal treatment.
It is usually said that treatment may be worse than the disease. This is very true with the current treatments of skin leishmaniasis. These drugs have a high toxicity profile so that patients feel sick for weeks while treated. There is no guarantee that the treatment will be effective so that patients stop treatment or visit another doctor to repeat the procedure. And even if they are cured, they are likely to have a scar forever. This is the reality of leishmaniasis in Colombia and in many other countries around the world. ”
Maria Adelaida Gomez, Microbiologist with Cideim and editor of the study
Professor of cellular biology and molecular genetics Najib El-Sayed, editor of the study, noted that the standard drug used to treat the disease-meter-antimonic antimony fails in about 40-70% of patients administered.
“This rate of failure is valid even when patients complete the full course of treatment, which lasts up to 14 weeks,” El-Sayed said. “Finding out how effective the drug will be in a patient early is very important because it can prevent weeks or months of ineffective treatment and help patients access more suitable alternatives much earlier.”
The group found that patients who failed to respond to Meglumine Antimoniate showed a distinctive pattern in their immune system, a prolonged inflammatory condition called the Interferon I. Type I. resources to combat it.
“While this answer is necessary to combat certain infections, we have found that when it remains increased for a long time, it can interfere with the treatment and treatment process in patients with skin leishmaniasis,” El-Sayed explained. “This increased response of type I interferon I was observed in various innate types of immunocytes that we analyzed in patient blood samples. By following these changes throughout the treatment process, we identified a clear standard that distinguishes patients who will not recover successfully.
The researchers have also developed a sophisticated scoring system that can accurately predict the treatment results for newly diagnosed patients using advanced mechanical learning techniques. By analyzing the activity of just nine genes, they could predict whether the treatment would work in a skin patient with 90%accurately.
“This is the significant progress for healthcare providers and scientists working to improve results for skin patients with leishmaniasis,” Gomez said. “The disease begins to move to new places like the United States, which means we need these resources more than ever.”
While the current test requires sophisticated laboratory equipment, the team is already working to produce a more portable and user -friendly technology for doctors to use in the field. Researchers hope that their new findings, especially in terms of type I interferon Street, could be a promising way to develop new therapeutics for skin leishmaniasis. Their conclusions represent a displacement from the most traditional approaches -which usually focus solely on the elimination of pest treatment methods -before treatment they also consider the patient’s natural immunosuppression.
“It is really one of the first attempts to translate laboratory findings of this disease into practical applications,” El-Sayed said. “Understanding why some patients do not respond to treatment has been a major challenge in managing this disease. This work opens the door to medical accuracy and the development of better strategies that can personalize the treatment for a wide range of patients.”
Source:
Magazine report:
Gómez, ma, et al. (2025). The innate biological failure of treatment in human skin leishmaniasis. Nature communications. Doi.org/10.1038/S41467-025-58330-3.
