title: Polymerase Chain Reaction Diagnosis of Leishmaniasis: A Species-Specific Approach.
abstract: Leishmaniasis is an infectious disease caused by protozoan parasites of the genus Leishmania which are transmitted to humans through bites of infected sand flies. The variable clinical manifestations and the evolution of the disease are determined by the infecting species. Recognition at a species level is of utmost importance since this greatly impacts therapy decision making as well as predicts outcome for the disease. This chapter describes the application of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in the detection of Leishmania parasites across the disease spectrum, including protocols for sample collection and transportation, genomic material extraction, and target amplification methods with special emphasis on PCR amplification of the cytochrome b gene for Leishmania spp. species identification.
authors: Laboratorio de Enzimología de Parásitos, Universidad de Los Andes, Mérida, Venezuela. eglys.gonzalez@gmail.com.|Fundación Jacinto Convit, Caracas, Venezuela. eglys.gonzalez@gmail.com.
authors: Eglys
authors: E
authors: González-Marcano
authors: Laboratory of Parasitology, Department of Disease Control, Graduate School of Veterinary Medicine, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan. hkato@vetmed.hokudai.ac.jp.
authors: Hirotomo
authors: H
authors: Kato
authors: Laboratorio de Enzimología de Parásitos, Universidad de Los Andes, Mérida, Venezuela. concepci@ula.ve.
authors: Juan Luis
authors: JL
authors: Concepción
authors: Laboratorio de Enzimología de Parásitos, Universidad de Los Andes, Mérida, Venezuela. emarquez@ula.ve.
authors: María Elizabeth
authors: ME
authors: Márquez
authors: Microbiology Laboratory, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, Yale New Haven Hospital, New Haven, CT, USA. albertopaniz@yahoo.com.|Laboratorio de Bioquimica, Institutode Biomedicina (SAIB) / InstitutoVenezolano de los Seguros Sociales(IVSS), Departamento de Patologia, Hospital Internacional, Barquisimeto, Estado Lara, Venezuela, Aruba. albertopaniz@yahoo.com.|Department of Hematopathology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA. albertopaniz@yahoo.com.
authors: Alberto Paniz
authors: AP
authors: Mondolfi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016054:DNA, Protozoan; D006801:Humans; D007891:Leishmania / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D007896:Leishmaniasis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000469:parasitology*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D016054:DNA, Protozoan
keywords: Diagnosis; Leishmaniasis; PCR