A randomized trial comparing a pentavalent antimonial drug and recombinant interferon-γ in the local treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis

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Abstract
In a randomized prospective trial n-methyl-glucamine antimoniate (Glucantime®) and human recombinant interferon-γ were infiltrated around lesions of cutaneous leishmaniasis caused by Leishmania tropica in Syria. A previous trial had shown that intradermal application of interferon-γ promoted the healing of similar lesions in the study area. Twenty patients with 38 lesions received 1–3 ml Glucantime® and 20 patients with 37 lesions received 25 μg of interferon-γ intradermally once weekly for 5 consecutive weeks. While all lesions treated with Glucantime® were free of parasites after the third injection, only 69% of those treated with interferon-γ were parasitologically cured by week 10. Within 10 weeks, lesions treated with Glucantime® healed completely in