Clinical utility of polymerase chain reaction-based detection of Leishmania in the diagnosis of American cutaneous leishmaniasis.
We evaluated the use of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for diagnosis of American cutaneous leishmaniasis (ACL) in an area in Bahia, Brazil, where Leishmania braziliensis is endemic. Leishmania DNA was detected in 50 cases, yielding a positivity rate of 100%, which was higher than the rates for all of the other diagnostic methods studied--namely, the Montenegro skin test, anti-Leishmania serological testing, and microscopic examination of lesion biopsy specimens. These findings have led us to propose guidelines for the diagnosis of ACL that use PCR as the principal means of parasitological confirmation of cases.
de Oliveira
Camila Indiani
CI
Centro de Pesquisas Gonçalo Muniz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Salvador BA, Brazil. camila@cpqgm.fiocruz.br
Báfica
André
A
Oliveira
Fabiano
F
Favali
Cecilia B F
CB
Correa
Tania
T
Freitas
Luiz A R
LA
Nascimento
Eliane
E
Costa
Jackson M
JM
Barral
Aldina
A
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000818:Animals; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D017931:DNA Primers; D016054:DNA, Protozoan / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007892:Leishmania braziliensis / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D016773:Leishmaniasis, Cutaneous / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
D017931:DNA Primers; D016054:DNA, Protozoan