Fig. 2.

Distinct quality of CD4 T helper type 1 (Th1) cells induced by LbAg and LaAg. Multiparametric flow cytometry was used to determine (a) the frequency of cells expressing each of the seven possible combinations of interferon (IFN)-γ, interleukin (IL)-2 and tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-α and (b) the fraction of the total response comprising cells expressing all three cytokines (3+), any two cytokines (2+) or any one cytokine (1+). Detached from the pie charts are the fraction that consists of IFN-γ single-positive cells. (c) The IFN-γ, IL-2 and TNF-α median fluorescence intensities (MFIs) of antigen-specific 3+, 2+, and 1+ cells for Leishmaniasis braziliensis (LbAg) and L. amazonensis (LaAg). Shown is the mean ± standard deviation of the mean. *Different from the Ctrl group. Mann–Whitney U-test; *P < 0·05; **P < 0·005. #Different from LaAg Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-ranks test; #P < 0·05;##P < 0·005. ^§Mann–Whitney test, P < 0·05; ^§different from single-positive cells; ^§§different from all other phenotypes.