DLD and cutaneous leishmaniasis: While it is important to investigate whether DLD-deficient parasites could regain virulence after prolonged persistence as was observed for lipophosphoglycan 2 (lpg2) deficient parasites [69,70], the strong protective immunity elicited in immunized animals suggests that DLD deficient parasites hold promise as a live-attenuated vaccine candidate against cutaneous leishmaniasis.