en Infectious diseases and public health Infectious diseases and public health Original article Original article <strong>Introduction: </strong>Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is an infectious disease with a high rate of prevalence worldwide. No effective vaccine is now available for CL, and the current chemotherapy ensues serious side effects. The potency of Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in immunomodulatory and wound healing have shown promise for the treatment of CL. <strong>Methods:</strong> In the present study, BALB/c mice were infected with <em>leishmania major</em> promastigotes and then injected with 1&times;10⁶MSCs at the lesion sites. After 10, 20, and 30 days, the lesion size in MSC-treated mice was measured and compared with that of controls received only PBS. Also, expression of IFN-&gamma;, TNF-&alpha;, IL-12, IL-4, and IL-10 cytokines were assayed in lesions, neutrophils, spleen, and liver of both test and control groups using RT-PCR. <strong>Result: </strong>The lesion size significantly reduced in MSC-treated mice by day 30. Soon after the treatment, the expression of IFN-&gamma;, TNF-&alpha;, and IL-10 genes, but not IL-4 was observed in the spleen and liver of the MSC-treated mice. In neutrophils of this group, only the TNF-&alpha; gene was expressed. <strong>Conclusion: </strong>our study exhibited the useful role of MSCs in the treatment of CL, which can open a new window to <em>Leishmania</em> research. Cutaneous Leishmaniasis, Leishmania major, Inbred BALB/C, Mesenchymal Stem Cells, Cytokines 7 13 http://jommid.pasteur.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-122-2&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Sahar Hamoon Navard sr.hamoon@gmail.com 0000000323136843 No Department of Pathobiology, Faculty of Veterinary Science, Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamedan, Iran Hossein Rezvan h.rezvan@basu.ac.ir 0000000293280245 Yes Department of Pathobiology, Faculty of Veterinary Science, Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamedan, Iran Mohammad Hossein Feiz Haddad Feizhaddad98@gmail.com 0000000348046983 No Leishmaniasis Disease Registry Committee, Dezful University of Medical Sciences, Dezful, IranInfectious and Tropical Diseases Research Centre, Health Research Institute, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran Mohammadreza Baghaban Eslaminejad bagesla@yahoo.com 0000000210360072 No Department of Stem Cells and Developmental Biology, Cell Science Research Center, Royan Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Technology, ACECR, Tehran, Iran Sakineh Azami 000000033128984x No Department of Pathobiology, Faculty of Veterinary Science, Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamedan, Iran