title: Quantitative PCR for the diagnosis of cutaneous leishmaniasis from formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded skin sections.
abstract: The present report describes a real-time PCR-based procedure to reliably determine the quantity of Leishmania amastigotes in relation to the amount of host tissue in histological skin sections from canine and equine cases of cutaneous leishmaniasis. The novel diagnostic Leishmania-PCR has a detection limit of <0.02 amastigotes per μg tissue, which corresponds well to the detection limit of immunohistochemistry and is far beyond that of conventional histology. Our results emphasise the importance of PCR to complement routine histology of cutaneous leishmaniasis cases, particularly in laboratories in which no immunohistochemical assay is available.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Parasitology, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Berne, Berne, Switzerland. Electronic address: norbert.mueller@vetsuisse.unibe.ch.
authors.forename: Norbert
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Müller
authors.affiliation: Institute of Parasitology, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Berne, Berne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Brigitte
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hentrich
authors.affiliation: Institute of Parasitology, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Berne, Berne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Caroline F
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Frey
authors.affiliation: Institute of Veterinary Pathology, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Berne, Berne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Monika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Welle
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000469:parasitology; D004285:Dogs; D006734:Horse Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000469:parasitology; D006736:Horses; D007891:Leishmania / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D016773:Leishmaniasis, Cutaneous / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary; D025202:Molecular Diagnostic Techniques / Q000379:methods; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012867:Skin / Q000469:parasitology*
keywords: Cutaneous leishmaniasis; Diagnosis; Histology; Leishmania spp.; Quantitative real-time PCR