title: First Molecular Characterization of Leishmania Species Causing Visceral Leishmaniasis among Children in Yemen.
abstract: Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is a debilitating, often fatal disease caused by Leishmania donovani complex; however, it is a neglected tropical disease. L. donovani complex comprises two closely related species, L. donovani that is mostly anthroponotic and L. infantum that is zoonotic. Differentiation between these two species is critical due to the differences in their epidemiology and pathology. However, they cannot be differentiated morphologically, and their speciation using isoenzyme-based methods poses a difficult task and may be unreliable. Molecular characterization is now the most reliable method to differentiate between them and to determine their phylogenetic relationships. The present study aims to characterize Leishmania species isolated from bone marrows of Yemeni pediatric patients using sequence analysis of the ribosomal internal transcribed spacer-1 (ITS1) gene. Out of 41 isolates from Giemsa-stained bone marrow smears, 25 isolates were successfully amplified by nested polymerase chain reaction and sequenced in both directions. Phylogenetic analysis using neighbor joining method placed all study isolates in one cluster with L. donovani complex (99% bootstrap). The analysis of ITS1 for microsatellite repeat numbers identified L. infantum in 11 isolates and L. donovani in 14 isolates. These data suggest the possibility of both anthroponotic and zoonotic transmission of VL-causing Leishmania species in Yemen. Exploring the possible animal reservoir hosts is therefore needed for effective control to be achieved.
authors.affiliation: Tropical Disease Research Center, Faculty of Medicine, University of Science and Technology, Sana'a, Yemen.|Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Sana'a University, Sana'a, Yemen.
authors.forename: Mohammed A K
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Mahdy
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Sana'a University, Sana'a, Yemen.
authors.forename: Abdulsalam M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Al-Mekhlafi
authors.affiliation: Tropical Disease Research Center, Faculty of Medicine, University of Science and Technology, Sana'a, Yemen.|Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Sana'a University, Sana'a, Yemen.
authors.forename: Rashad
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Abdul-Ghani
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Sana'a University, Sana'a, Yemen.
authors.forename: Reyadh
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Saif-Ali
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Sana'a University, Sana'a, Yemen.|Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Hesham M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Al-Mekhlafi
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Sana'a University, Sana'a, Yemen.
authors.forename: Samira M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Al-Eryani
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Yvonne A L
authors.initials: YA
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Rohela
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mahmud
mesh_terms: D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000469:parasitology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D016054:DNA, Protozoan / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007893:Leishmania donovani / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D018314:Leishmania infantum / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D007898:Leishmaniasis, Visceral / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology*; D008297:Male; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats / Q000235:genetics; D010802:Phylogeny; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D015006:Yemen / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D016054:DNA, Protozoan