title: Parasite load estimation by qPCR differentiates between asymptomatic and symptomatic infection in Indian visceral leishmaniasis.
abstract: Using quantitative PCR (qPCR), we differentiated asymptomatic and symptomatic Indian Leishmania donovani infection. qPCR on blood of 40 visceral leishmaniasis, 130 endemic, and 40 non-endemic healthy controls showed 500 times less (P < .0001) parasitemia in asymptomatic compared to the symptomatic ones and threshold of 5 parasite genome/mL for the clinical disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi-221 005, UP, India.
authors.forename: Medhavi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sudarshan
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi-221 005, UP, India. Electronic address: drshyamsundar@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Shyam
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sundar
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D058345:Asymptomatic Infections; D002648:Child; D016054:DNA, Protozoan / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D007898:Leishmaniasis, Visceral / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D059208:Parasite Load / Q000379:methods; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D016054:DNA, Protozoan
keywords: Asymptomatic; Visceral leishmaniasis; patients; qPCR