Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is caused by Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis, which infects dermal macrophages and dendritic cells, causing an intense immune-mediated-tissue inflammation and a skin ulcer with elevated borders that can heal spontaneously or after antimonial therapy. The resolution of lesions depends on an adaptive immune response, and cytotoxic cells seem to have a fundamental role in this process. The aim of this study is to better understand the role of cytotoxicity mediated mechanisms that occur during the immune response in the CL lesion milieu, considering distinct cytotoxic-related CD107a(+) cells, such as CD8(+), CD4(+), CD4(neg) CD8(neg) (double-negative, DN) and CD4(+)CD8(+) (double-positive, DP) T lymphocytes, as well as NK and NKT cells.