Table 1.

Main evasion mechanisms already described for Leishmania species.

Leishmania species	Escape mechanisms mainly described	Reference
L. major	Impairment in CD40 signaling. Impairment of protein kinase C (PKCα, βI, βII and ε) and enhancement of PKCδ, ζ and λ isoforms, promoting ERK1/ERK2 phosphorilation, IL-10 production and parasite growth. Suppression of IL-2Rα expression by peripheral human T lymphocytes. Induction of Monarch-1 expression by macrophages, a negative regulator of NF-kB activation. Hijack of host cell autophagy machinery to reduce T-cell proliferation. Induction of apoptosis of lymphocytes by the downregulation of Bcl-2 and over-expression of p53 and caspase-3.	Awasthi et al., 2003 Sudan et al., 2012 Khodadadi et al., 2013 Fata et al., 2013 Crauwels et al., 2015 Moshrefi et al., 2017
L. donovani	Inhibition of nitric oxide production and the activation of JAK2 and ERK1/2 and the transcription factors NF-kB and AP-1 by the protein tyrosine phosphatase (SHP-1) in macrophages. Different regulation of small G-proteins, enhancing N-Ras expression, and inhibiting K-Ras and H-Ras expression. Induction of PD-1 and CTLA-4 expression by lymphocytes. Induction of PD-L2 expression by macrophages. Inhibition of phagolysosomes biogenesis, NADPH oxidase complex assembling, altering the pH and phagosome degradative properties, and inhibiting antigen presentation via MHC-I. Induction of the transcription factor IRF-5 that limits CD8 T cells expansion and inhibits IL-12 expression.	Forget et al., 2006; Blanchette et al., 2008 Husein et al., 2018 Murphy et al., 1998 Medina-Colorado et al., 2017 Matheoud et al., 2013 Hammami et al., 2015
L. braziliensis	Reduction of NO production and high infection index in vitro. Decrease of BLT1 receptor, which recognizes the lipid leukotriene B4 (LTB4). Increase of superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1) by macrophages. Ecto-nucleotidase activity.	Campos et al., 2008 Morato et al., 2014 Khouri et al., 2014 Leite et al., 2012
L. amazonensis	Phosphatidylserine exposition. Activation of NF-kB repressor complex p50/p50 that negatively regulates NOS2 expression interfering with NO production. Induction of NETs and stimulation of M2 profile. Increase of superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1) by macrophages. Downregulation of macrophage iNOS expression via Histone Deacetylase 1 (HDAC1).	Wanderley et al., 2009 Calegari-Silva et al., 2009 Guimarães-Costa et al., 2017 Khouri et al., 2014 Calegari-Silva et al., 2018
L. infantum	Use of apoptosis from host cell as a mean to survive and replicate. The mechanism should be clarified. Expression of 3'Nucleotidase/Nuclease activity. Manipulation of AMPK activation. Production of the enzyme ornithine descarboxylase, which plays a role in the synthesis of tripanothione and the modulation of the immune response and pathogenesis. Lower expression of TLR2, TLR9, HLA-DR and TNF-α, resulting in less control of parasite load. Induction of MHC Class IIhigh DC to polarize CD4+ T Cells toward a nonprotective T-bet+ IFN-g+IL-10+ phenotype.	Moreira et al., 2013 Guimarães-Costa et al., 2014 Moreira et al., 2015 Yadav et al., 2015 Viana et al., 2018 Resende et al., 2013
L. guyanensis	Induction of the up-regulation of the A20 protein, avoiding the inflammasome pathways.	Hartley et al., 2018