Although CD8 exhaustion has not been reported in patients with leishmaniasis, our results on “functional exhaustion” is in accordance with the literature since Joshi and coworkers could demonstrate that L. donovani limits CD8 expansion and induces functional exhaustion in an experimental model [16] which was associated with increased PD-1 expression by Leishmania-specific CD8. Here, CD8A is linked to leishmaniasis.