Resistance of mice to Leptospira infection and correlation with chemokine response

•Host-pathogen interaction during Leptospira infection induces expression of chemokines.•Chemokine profiles reflect susceptibility to leptospirosis and are associated to TLR4.•Leptospira transcripts sph1 and tlyA, are upregulated in lungs of susceptible mice in early stages of infection and repressed in resistant mice.•Inflammatory mediators in leptospirosis are molecular markers of host-pathogen interactions, correlating with the progression of the disease.