Mice with diet-induced obesity presented thicker lesions with higher parasite burden and a more intense inflammatory infiltrate in the infected ear after infection with L. major. There was no difference between control and obese mice in IFN-gamma or IL-4 production by auricular draining lymph node cells, but obese mice produced higher levels of IgG1 and IL-17. This evidence concerns the gene IFNG and obesity due to melanocortin 4 receptor deficiency.