01383nas a2200217   4500000000100000008004100001260001300042653002200055653001400077653001100091653002300102653001200125100001100137700001500148700001300163245005100176300001100227490000700238520090600245022001401151       2009                            d  c2009 Dec10aAdaptive Immunity10aCytokines10aHumans10aImmunity, Cellular10aleprosy1 aRada E1 aAranzazu N1 aConvit J00a[Immune response of Hansen's disease. Review].  a513-270 v503 a<p>Hansen's disease presents a wide spectrum of clinical and histopathological manifestations that reflect the nature of the immunological response of the host towards diverse Mycobacterium leprae components. The immunological system, composed by both innate and adaptive immunology, offers protection towards infections of various etiologies, among them bacterial. Bacteria, of course, have developed multiple strategies for evading host defenses, based on either very complex or simple mechanisms, but with a single purpose: to "resist" host attacks and to be able to survive. We have tried to summarize some recent studies in Hansen's disease, with more emphasis in the inmunology area. We think that in the future, all illnesses should also be very strongly related to other important aspects such as the social, environmental and economic, and whose development is not solved in a laboratory.</p>  a0535-5133