Degree of anemia correlates with increased utilization of heme by Leishmania donovani parasites in visceral leishmaniasis.
Anemia in kala-azar patients is a serious problem. The present study has addressed this problem with the hypothesis that as the Leishmania parasite is completely devoid of heme biosynthetic pathway, therefore the excessive use of heme by the parasites in the human patients can be one of the possible reason of anemia. We investigated that whether, the inability of Leishmania donovani to synthesize heme, can enforce Leishmania parasite to utilize heme derived from host sources in Indian KA patients. Patients had higher tendency of their macrophages to bind with Hb which was pronounced after sensitization with drug resistant Leishmania strain compared to sensitive.
Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences (Indian Council of Medical Research), Agam Kuan, Patna 800 007, India.
Ajit K
AK
Thakur
Sanjiva
S
Bimal
Subhankar K
SK
Singh
Anil K
AK
Gupta
V N R
VN
Das
Pradeep
P
Das
Shyam
S
Narayan
D000740:Anemia / Q000469:parasitology*; D015703:Antigens, CD / Q000378:metabolism; D015214:Antigens, Differentiation, Myelomonocytic / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D006418:Heme / Q000378:metabolism*; D006454:Hemoglobins / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007893:Leishmania donovani / Q000378:metabolism*; D007898:Leishmaniasis, Visceral / Q000150:complications* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000469:parasitology; D008264:Macrophages / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000378:metabolism; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D000098902:CD163 Antigen
D015703:Antigens, CD; D015214:Antigens, Differentiation, Myelomonocytic; D000098902:CD163 Antigen; D006454:Hemoglobins; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface; D006418:Heme
Anemia; Drug; Hemoglobin; Kala-azar