title: Diagnosis of canine visceral leishmaniasis: biotechnological advances.
abstract: Human visceral leishmaniasis (HVL) is endemic in the tropical and sub-tropical regions of Africa, Asia, the Mediterranean, Southern Europe and South and Central America, with approximately 500,000 new cases reported annually. As dogs are considered to be the major reservoirs for HVL, the accurate diagnosis of disease in these animals is important. Diagnosis of canine visceral leishmaniasis (CVL) is performed mainly by direct parasitological methods that can yield false-negative results, either because of the very low number of Leishmania spp. organisms in clinical samples (bone marrow and lymph nodes) or because morphological identification is difficult. In addition, these methods are invasive. Conventional serological techniques are limited by cross-reactivity with other parasitic diseases and because several technical procedures have not been standardised. The development of polymerase chain reaction based approaches and immunoassays based on the use of recombinant antigens aimed at improving the sensitivity and specificity of CVL diagnosis is discussed.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Imunologia, Centro de Pesquisas Aggeu Magalhães, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz/FIOCRUZ, Av. Moraes Rego s/n, Cidade Universitária, 50670-420 Recife, PE, Brazil. yara@cpqam.fiocruz.br
authors.forename: Y M
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Gomes
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Paiva Cavalcanti
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Lira
authors.forename: F G C
authors.initials: FG
authors.lastname: Abath
authors.forename: L C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Alves
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016054:DNA, Protozoan / Q000032:analysis; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis*; D004285:Dogs; D007891:Leishmania / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D007898:Leishmaniasis, Visceral / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000662:veterinary*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000662:veterinary; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests
chemical_list: D016054:DNA, Protozoan