ABSTRACT
Zeishmania parasites are intracellular pathogens residing predominantly within mononuclear phagocytes. Whilst valuable insights into the host-pathogen interaction have been obtained from the study of “typical” macrophage and dendritic cell populations in vitro, such studies may greatly underestimate the heterogeneity of mononuclear phagocytes encountered by Leishmanta in vivo, and the microenvironmental constraints under which these cells function. In this review, some aspects o f the in vivo interaction between Leishmanta and the mononuclear phagocyte system are discussed.
