Identification of Leishmania isolates from Varzaneh city, Isfahan province, Iran using nested polymerase chain reaction method

Authors
Reza Arjmand 1
Sedigheh Saberi 1
Sepideh Tolouei 1
Zahra Chizari 1
Reza Fadaei Nobari 2
Simindokht Soleimani Fard 1
Mojtaba Akbari 3
Seyed Hossein Hejazi 4
1 Department of Parasitology and Mycology, School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran
2 CDC Manager in Isfahan Health Deputy, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran
3 Department of Research, School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran
4 Department of Parasitology and Mycology, School of Medicine; Skin Disease and Leishmaniasis Research Center, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran
Abstract
Background: Leishmaniasis, a parasitic disease, is caused by the Leishmania genus, a protozoan parasite transmitted by sand fly arthropods. Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) in old world is usually caused by L. major, L. tropica, and L. aethiopica complexes. One of the most important hyper endemic areas of CL in Iran is Isfahan province. Varzaneh is a city in the eastern part of Isfahan province. Due to different biological patterns of parasite strains which are distributed in the region, this study was design to identify Leishmania species from human victims using Kinetoplastid DNA as templates in a molecular PCR method.
Materials and Methods: Among 186 suspected cases, 50 cases were confirmed positive by direct microscopy after Giemsa staining. Species characterization of the isolates was done using Nested- PCR as a very effective and sensitive tool to reproduce mini circle strands.
Results: After Nested-PCR from all 50 cases, 560 bp bands were produced which according to products of reference strains indicate that the infection etiologic agent has been L. major. 22 (44%) of patients were females and 28 (56%) of them were males. Their age ranges were between 7 months and 60 years.
Conclusion: According to the results of the study and the particular pattern of infection prevalent in the region, genetic studies and identification of Leishmania parasites are very important in the disease control and improvement of regional strategy of therapy protocols.

Keywords

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Advanced Biomedical Research
Volume 2014, August
August 2014
Pages 1-4