title: Detection of Leishmania infantum DNA by real-time PCR in canine oral and conjunctival swabs and comparison with other diagnostic techniques.
abstract: The use of non invasive sampling, such as collection of conjunctival swabs, as a diagnostic tool for the detection of Leishmania DNA is of interest. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic utility of detecting Leishmania infection with the use of conjunctival swab samples in dogs living in a highly endemic area for leishmaniosis and to investigate, for the first time, the presence of Leishmania DNA in oral swabs in the same population. One hundred sixty-three dogs living outdoor and recruited in various provinces of Sicily were studied. Leishmania infantum indirect fluorescent antibody test (IFAT), delayed-type hypersensitivity reaction to leishmanin (DTH) and real-time PCR of blood (BL), lymph node (LN), conjunctival (CS) and oral swab (OS) samples were performed. The positive PCR percentages in LN, CS, OS and BL samples were: 24.5%, 22.1%, 8.7% and 5.5%, respectively. Serological and DTH positive percentages were 27.0% and 73.8%, respectively. Seropositive and LN-PCR positive dogs had a high likelihood to be positive by CS-PCR. The similar positive PCR percentages found in CS and LN samples suggest the use of CS-PCR as non-invasive alternative technique to LN-PCR for the detection of Leishmania infection in dogs. In addition, this study demonstrated, for the first time, the presence of Leishmania DNA in oral swabs in dogs.
authors: Public Health Department, University of Messina, Polo Universitario Annunziata, 98168 Messina, Italy.
authors: Gabriella
authors: G
authors: Lombardo
authors: Maria Grazia
authors: MG
authors: Pennisi
authors: Tiziana
authors: T
authors: Lupo
authors: Antonella
authors: A
authors: Migliazzo
authors: Alessandra
authors: A
authors: Caprì
authors: Laia
authors: L
authors: Solano-Gallego
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan / Q000097:blood; D003228:Conjunctiva / Q000469:parasitology*; D016054:DNA, Protozoan / Q000235:genetics; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D004285:Dogs; D005260:Female; D019084:Fluorescent Antibody Technique, Indirect / Q000662:veterinary; D018314:Leishmania infantum / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D007898:Leishmaniasis, Visceral / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000662:veterinary*; D008297:Male; D009061:Mouth Mucosa / Q000469:parasitology*; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000662:veterinary*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid
chemical_list: D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan; D016054:DNA, Protozoan