Dutra WO, et al. - Researchers evaluated cytokine production by peripheral blood mononuclear cells, and frequency of cells expressing cytokines in lesions from pregnant and non-pregnant cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) women. A more intense cellular infiltrate, associated with an increase in neutrophils and CD4+ cells, was displayed by CL lesions from pregnant women. Lesions from pregnant vs non-pregnant CL women showed no difference regarding the number of IFN-gamma+ cells, however, the former group displayed approximately 3-times higher IL-10 and IL-4 expression. CD4+ and CD68+ cells were the main sources of IL-4 and IL-10, respectively. The intensity of inflammatory infiltrate in lesions from pregnant CL women was noted to have a positive correlation with the expression of IL-4, but not IFN-gamma nor IL-10. An IL-4-mediated pathology was thus suggested in L. braziliensis-infected pregnant women.