Abstract
Parasites of the complexes Leishmania (Leishmania) mexicana, Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis, and Leishmania (Leishmania) chagasi coexist within the same endemic areas of the American Continent. They produce similar clinical manifestations, yet not all respond well to treatment with anti-leishmania drugs. Thus, high specificity and sensitivity are needed to improve diagnosis and treatment. We developed a highly specific and sensitive polymerase chain reaction based diagnostic method that permits the identification of parasites belonging to the genus Leishmania and the differentiation between parasites belonging to the L. (L.) mexicana and L. (V.) braziliensis complexes and the identification of species of the L. (L.) mexicana complex, such as L. (L.) mexicana, Leishmania (L.) amazonensis, and Leishmania (L.) venezuelensis. This PCR permits the specific identification of Leishmania species in tissues of patients with different clinical forms of leishmaniasis. Its high sensitivity and specificity allow a precise diagnosis in lesions of patients that harbor few parasites, where the microscopic evaluation is unreliable. Additionally, this PCR could be a valuable tool for the identification of Leishmania species in mammalian reservoirs and sand fly vectors present in the American Continent.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Berzunza-Cruz M, Cabrera N, Crippa-Rossi M, Pérez-Montfort R, Becker I (2002) Polymorphism analysis of the internal transcribed spacer and small subunit of ribosomal RNA genes of Leishmania mexicana. Parasitol Res 88:918–925
Cupolillo E, Grimaldi G, Momen H, Beverley SM (1995) Intergenic region typing (IRT): a rapid molecular approach to the characterization and evolution of Leishmania. Mol Biochem Parasitol 73:145–155
Davies CR, Llanos-Cuentas EA, Pyke SD, Dye C (1995) Cutaneous leishmaniasis in the Peruvian Andes: an epidemiological study of infection and immunity. Epidemiol Infect 114:297–318
Dávila AMR, Momen H (2000) Internal-transcribed-spacer (ITS) sequences used to explore phylogenetic relationships within Leishmania. Ann Trop Med Parasitol 94:651–654
Grimaldi G, Tesh RB, McMahon-Pratt D (1989) A review of the geographic distribution and epidemiology of leishmaniasis in the New World. Am J Trop Med Hyg 41:687–725
Herwaldt BL (1999) Leishmaniasis. The Lancet 354:1191–1199
Hernández-Montes O, Monroy-Ostria A, McCann S, Barker DC (1998) Identification of Mexican Leishmania species by analysis of PCR amplified DNA. Acta Tropica 71:139–153
Jones TC, Johnson WD Jr, Barretto AC, Lago E, Badaro R, Cerf B, Reed SG, Netto EM, Tada MS, Franca TF et al (1987) Epidemiology of American cutaneous leishmaniasis due to Leishmania braziliensis braziliensis. J Infect Dis 156:73–83
Lainson R (1983) The American leishmaniases: some observations on their ecology and epidemiology. Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg 77:569–596
Lucas CM, Franke ED, Cachay MI, Tejada A, Cruz ME, Kreutzer RD, Barker DC, McCann SH, Watts DM (1998) Geographic distribution and clinical description of leishmaniasis cases in Peru. Am J Trop Med Hyg 59:312–317
Navin TR, Arana BA, Arana FE, Berman JD, Chajon JF (1992) Placebo-controlled clinical trial of sodium stibogluconate (Penstostam) versus ketoconazole for treating cutaneous leishmaniasis in Guatemala. J Infect Dis 165:528–534
Sánchez-Tejeda G, Rodríguez N, Parra CI, Hernández-Montes O, Barrer DC, Monroy-Ostria A (2001) Cutaneous leishmaniasis caused by members of Leishmania braziliensis complex in Nayarit, State of Mexico. Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz 96:15–19
Velasco-Castrejon O, Savarino S, Neva F, Guzman-Bracho C (1989) Los agentes etiológicos de las leishmaniasis cutáneas en México. Presencia de L. braziliensis en Mexico. Rev Lat Amer Microbiol 31:231–234
Acknowledgments
We thank Rocely Cervantes Sarabia, Adriana Ruiz Remigio, José Delgado Domínguez, Daniel Sánchez Almaraz, Alejandro Padilla Trejo, and Marco Gudiño Zayas for their valuable assistance and Lucía Alvarez Trejo for excellent secretarial support.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
This work was supported by the CONACyT 47256-M and DGAPA IN221806-3
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Berzunza-Cruz, M., Bricaire, G., Salaiza Suazo, N. et al. PCR for identification of species causing American cutaneous leishmaniasis. Parasitol Res 104, 691–699 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-008-1247-2
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-008-1247-2