Distinguishing Leishmania tropica and Leishmania major in the Middle East using the polymerase chain reaction with kinetoplast DNA-specific primers.
This paper reports attempts to develop a sensitive and inexpensive procedure for rapid diagnosis of cutaneous leishmaniasis at the species level using skin scrapings from patients. The presence of 3 species (Leishmania major, L. tropica and L. infantum) in Israel and the West Bank demonstrates the need for a species-specific detection method in this region. The primer pair Uni21/Lmj4 was developed on the basis of an L. major minicircle sequence but it also amplified other 'Old World' species of Leishmania. Due to species-specific differences in the size of minicircles, these primers can be used in the polymerase chain reaction to answer diagnostic and epidemiological questions.
Anders
Gerlind
G
Department of Parasitology, Kuvin Centre for the Study of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School, P.O. Box 12272, Jerusalem 91120, Israel.
Eisenberger
Carol L
CL
Jonas
Flory
F
Greenblatt
Charles L
CL
D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D018105:DNA, Kinetoplast / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D018320:Leishmania major / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D007895:Leishmania tropica / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D016773:Leishmaniasis, Cutaneous / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000469:parasitology; D008297:Male; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D012867:Skin / Q000469:parasitology; D013045:Species Specificity; D013048:Specimen Handling / Q000379:methods
D018105:DNA, Kinetoplast