“…CTVT cells do not have many distinctive ultrastructural features (Murray et al, 1969;HernandezJauregui et al, 1973;Cockrill and Beasley, 1975;Kennedy et al, 1977;Hill et al, 1984). Owing to its expression of lysozyme, a-1-antitrypsin, NSE and vimentin, CTVT has been proposed to be derived from the macrophage lineage (Table 1; Sandusky et al, 1987;Gimeno et al, 1995;Mozos et al, 1996;Marchal et al, 1997;Mukaratirwa et al, 2004). This diagnosis is supported by the observation that CTVT cells themselves may be parasitized by Leishmania infantum, an organism that normally infects macrophages (Albanese et al, 2002;Catone et al, 2003).…”