title: Identification of Leishmania isolates from Varzaneh city, Isfahan province, Iran using nested polymerase chain reaction method.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Leishmaniasis, a parasitic disease, is caused by the Leishmania genus, a protozoan parasite transmitted by sand fly arthropods. Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) in old world is usually caused by L. major, L. tropica, and L. aethiopica complexes. One of the most important hyper endemic areas of CL in Iran is Isfahan province. Varzaneh is a city in the eastern part of Isfahan province. Due to different biological patterns of parasite strains which are distributed in the region, this study was design to identify Leishmania species from human victims using Kinetoplastid DNA as templates in a molecular PCR method.
  
  
  METHODS
  Among 186 suspected cases, 50 cases were confirmed positive by direct microscopy after Giemsa staining. Species characterization of the isolates was done using Nested- PCR as a very effective and sensitive tool to reproduce mini circle strands.
  
  
  RESULTS
  After Nested-PCR from all 50 cases, 560 bp bands were produced which according to products of reference strains indicate that the infection etiologic agent has been L. major. 22 (44%) of patients were females and 28 (56%) of them were males. Their age ranges were between 7 months and 60 years.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  According to the results of the study and the particular pattern of infection prevalent in the region, genetic studies and identification of Leishmania parasites are very important in the disease control and improvement of regional strategy of therapy protocols.
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology and Mycology, School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Reza
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Arjmand
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology and Mycology, School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Sedigheh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Saberi
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology and Mycology, School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Sepideh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tolouei
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology and Mycology, School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Zahra
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Chizari
authors.affiliation: CDC Manager in Isfahan Health Deputy, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Reza Fadaei
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Nobari
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology and Mycology, School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Simindokht Soleimani
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Fard
authors.affiliation: Department of Research, School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Mojtaba
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Akbari
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology and Mycology, School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran ; Skin Disease and Leishmaniasis Research Center, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Seyed Hossein
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Hejazi
keywords: Leishmania; nested-PCR; parasites