MINI REVIEW article
Front. Immunol.
Sec. Parasite Immunology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2025.1595954
This article is part of the Research TopicInteractions among Immune Cells in Leishmaniasis: Exploring Markers, Enzymes and CytokinesView all 9 articles
Targeting macrophage phenotypes to prevent diseases caused by Leishmania and Trypanosoma cruzi infections
Provisionally accepted
- Institute of Biophysics Carlos Chagas Filho, Center for Health Science, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
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Macrophage plasticity is remarkable, and recent studies have opened new prophylactic and therapeutic avenues for immunomodulation of macrophage phenotypes in inflammatory and infectious diseases. During infections caused by the pathogenic protozoans Leishmania spp. and Trypanosoma cruzi, susceptibility to disseminated or chronic infections and/or the development of inflammatory diseases depend on the balance between protective immunity mediated by macrophages and anti-inflammatory responses. Here, we will discuss strategies that exploit macrophage plasticity towards the extreme proinflammatory M1 or pro-infection M2 phenotypes to prevent the establishment of disseminated and chronic infection or to temper parasite-driven inflammatory responses. Immunomodulation of macrophage phenotypes has been tested in experimental models of protozoan infections through pharmacological approaches, synergy between pro-M1 cytokines, and targeting of pro-M2 macrophage functions, such as efferocytosis. We will address the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying strategies designed to redirect macrophage activation towards M1 and M2 phenotypes, as well as the challenges and open questions.
Keywords: ATRA, Axl, Chagas Disease, Efferocytosis, Leishmaniasis, M1 and M2 macrophages, RANKL, Th1 and Th2 cytokines
Received: 18 Mar 2025; Accepted: 14 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Vellozo, Matos-Silva and Lopes. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Marcela Freitas Lopes, Institute of Biophysics Carlos Chagas Filho, Center for Health Science, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
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