title: Polymerase chain reaction with lesion scrapping for the diagnosis of human American tegumentary leishmaniasis.
abstract: The objective of this work was to compare the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using lesion scrapping with other conventional techniques for the diagnosis of the American tegumentary leishmaniasis (ATL). For this, patients with cutaneous lesions suspected to be ATL were studied. The DNA was amplified with the MP1L/MP3H primers. From the 156 studied patients, 79 (50.6%) presented positive parasite direct search (PD), 81 (51.9%) had positive Montenegro skin test (MST), and 90 (57.7%) presented PD and/or MST positive. The PCR was positive in all of the positive-PD patients (100% sensitivity), in 91.1% of the positive PD and/or MST patients, and in 27.3% of the patients that presented negative PD and positive MST. The PCR positivity was similar to the PD (P = 0.2482) and inferior to the MST (P = 0.0455), and to the PD/MST association (P = 0.0133). The high PCR sensitivity, and positivity in those cases where the PD was negative, highlights the importance of this technique as an auxiliary tool for the diagnosis of ATL.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Análises Clínicas, Departamento de Bioquímica, Universidade Estadual de Maringá, Maringá, PR, Brasil.
authors.forename: Eneide Aparecida Sabaini
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Venazzi
authors.forename: Andréa Claudia Bekner Silva
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Roberto
authors.forename: Ione Parra
authors.initials: IP
authors.lastname: Barbosa-Tessmann
authors.forename: Paulo Donizeti
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Zanzarini
authors.forename: Maria Valdrinez Campana
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Lonardoni
authors.forename: Thaís Gomes Verzignassi
authors.initials: TG
authors.lastname: Silveira
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000818:Animals; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D016054:DNA, Protozoan / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007891:Leishmania / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D016773:Leishmaniasis, Cutaneous / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012882:Skin Tests
chemical_list: D016054:DNA, Protozoan