title: Phlebotomus perfiliewi transcaucasicus is circulating both Leishmania donovani and L. infantum in northwest Iran.
abstract: Leishmania infantum is the causative agent of infantile visceral leishmaniasis (IVL) in the Mediterranean Basin and, based on isoenzyme typing of the parasite isolated from dogs; this parasite was considered to predominate in the all foci of IVL in Iran. However, based on PCR detection and sequencing of parasite Cysteine Protease B (CPB), only one out of seven sandfly infections in Phlebotomus perfiliewi transcaucasicus was found to be L. infantum in the current investigation. The six other infections were haplotypes of Leishmania donovani, the causative agent of anthroponotic visceral leishmaniasis (AVL) in West Africa and India. The deduced amino acid of the L. donovani haplotype was found to be novel and the shortest CPB protein reported within the Leishmania spp. Circulation of both L. donovani and L. infantum by P. perfiliewi transcaucasicus, in addition to previous data indicating its ability to circulate L. tropica, suggests that this species, like other vectors of VL, is a permissive vector. Finding L. donovani infecting P. perfiliewi transcaucasicus in the area demands extensive and intensive typing of natural Leishmania infections in epidemiological investigations in Iran and the Mediterranean Basin in general.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Entomology and Vector Control, School of Public Health and Institute of Health Research, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran 14155-6446, Iran. moshaghi@sina.tums.ac.ir
authors.forename: Mohammad Ali
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Oshaghi
authors.forename: Naseh Maleki
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Ravasan
authors.forename: Mallorie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hide
authors.forename: Ezat-Aldin
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Javadian
authors.forename: Yavar
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Rassi
authors.forename: Javid
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sadraei
authors.forename: Mehdi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mohebali
authors.forename: Mohammad Mehdi
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Sedaghat
authors.forename: Homa
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hajjaran
authors.forename: Zabiholah
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zarei
authors.forename: Fatemeh
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Mohtarami
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D003546:Cysteine Endopeptidases / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D018105:DNA, Kinetoplast / Q000032:analysis; D021903:DNA, Ribosomal Spacer / Q000032:analysis; D004285:Dogs; D005260:Female; D006239:Haplotypes; D006801:Humans; D007303:Insect Vectors / Q000469:parasitology*; D007492:Iran / Q000453:epidemiology; D007893:Leishmania donovani / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D018314:Leishmania infantum / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D007898:Leishmaniasis, Visceral / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology / Q000635:transmission; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010691:Phlebotomus / Q000469:parasitology*; D010802:Phylogeny; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D016415:Sequence Alignment
chemical_list: D018105:DNA, Kinetoplast; D021903:DNA, Ribosomal Spacer; D003546:Cysteine Endopeptidases