Species diversity of Leishmania (Viannia) parasites circulating in an endemic area for cutaneous leishmaniasis located in the Atlantic rainforest region of northeastern Brazil.
OBJECTIVE
To identify the aetiological agents of cutaneous leishmaniasis and to investigate the genetic polymorphism of Leishmania (Viannia) parasites circulating in an area with endemic cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) in the Atlantic rainforest region of northeastern Brazil.


METHODS
Leishmania spp. isolates came from three sources: (i) patients diagnosed clinically and parasitologically with CL based on primary lesions, secondary lesions, clinical recidiva, mucocutaneous leishmaniasis and scars; (ii) sentinel hamsters, sylvatic or synanthropic small rodents; and (iii) the sand fly species Lutzomyia whitmani. Isolates were characterised using monoclonal antibodies, multilocus enzyme electrophoresis (MLEE) and polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism of the internal transcribed spacer region rDNA locus.


RESULTS
Seventy-seven isolates were obtained and characterised. All isolates were identified as Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis serodeme 1 based on reactivity to monoclonal antibodies. MLEE identified 10 zymodemes circulating in the study region. Most isolates were classified as zymodemes closely related to L. (V.) braziliensis, but five isolates were classified as Leishmania (Viannia) shawi. All but three of the identified zymodemes have so far been observed only in the study region. Enzootic transmission and multiclonal infection were observed.


CONCLUSIONS
Our results confirm that transmission cycle complexity and the co-existence of two or more species in the same area can affect the level of genetic polymorphism in a natural Leishmania population. Although it is not possible to make inferences as to the modes of genetic exchange, one can speculate that some of the zymodemes specific to the region are hybrids of L. (V.) braziliensis and L. (V.) shawi.
Brito
Maria Edileuza F
ME
Departamento de Imunologia, Instituto Aggeu Magalhães, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Recife-PE CEP 50670-420, Brazil.
Andrade
Maria S
MS
Mendonça
Mitzi G
MG
Silva
Cláudio J
CJ
Almeida
Ericka L
EL
Lima
Bruna S
BS
Félix
Simone M
SM
Abath
Frederico G C
FG
da Graça
Grazielle C
GC
Porrozzi
Renato
R
Ishikawa
Edna A
EA
Shaw
Jeffrey J
JJ
Cupolillo
Elisa
E
Brandão-Filho
Sinval P
SP
D000818:Animals; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D004197:Disease Reservoirs; D020459:Genes, rRNA / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D007892:Leishmania braziliensis / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D016773:Leishmaniasis, Cutaneous / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology*; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology / Q000379:methods; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D013045:Species Specificity