title: Comparing acute and chronic human cutaneous leishmaniasis caused by Leishmania major and Leishmania tropica focusing on arginase activity.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) in Iran is mainly caused by Leishmania major (L. major) and L. tropica. Arginase mediated L-arginine metabolism is an important issue in Leishmania parasite propagation. Arginase activity in human CL due to L. major and L. tropica have not been studied up to now.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  We aimed to compare the clinical and laboratory aspects of acute and chronic CL, focussing on arginase activity.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this case-control study, 30 patients with acute CL (duration ≤ 1 year), 13 patients with chronic CL (duration ≥ 2 year) and 11 healthy controls were recruited. Arginase activity was measured in skin biopsies of lesions, peripheral blood polymorphonuclear cells (PMNs), peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and plasma by standard methods.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The median of arginase activity in the acute lesions was higher than in chronic samples and significantly higher than in healthy controls (P = 0.008). PMNs of both acute and chronic patients showed higher levels of arginase activity as compared to the levels in PBMCs and plasma. The median of arginase activity in the PMNs of patients with chronic CL was higher than that of patients with acute CL and significantly higher than that of the healthy controls (P = 0.010).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The level of arginase activity in lesions of patients with acute and chronic CL was higher than the skin of healthy controls. The highest level of arginase activity was observed in PMNs from patients with chronic CL. This suggests that the high level of arginase activity in PMNs of patients with chronic CL may contribute to the chronicity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Razi Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Mortazavi
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunotherapy and Leishmania Vaccine Research, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran.|Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sadeghipour
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunotherapy and Leishmania Vaccine Research, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Taslimi
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunotherapy and Leishmania Vaccine Research, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Habibzadeh
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunotherapy and Leishmania Vaccine Research, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zali
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunotherapy and Leishmania Vaccine Research, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zahedifard
authors.affiliation: Department of General surgery and Plastic surgery, Razi Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rahmati
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Razi Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kamyab
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Razi Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ghandi
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Rasoul-e-Akram Hospital, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zamanian
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, Gonabad University of medical sciences, Gonabad, Iran.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Reza Tohidinik
authors.affiliation: Section of Immunology, Department of Medicine, Imperial College London, London, UK.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Muller
authors.affiliation: Section of Immunology, Department of Medicine, Imperial College London, London, UK.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kropf
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunotherapy and Leishmania Vaccine Research, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rafati
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D001119:Arginase / Q000378:metabolism*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002908:Chronic Disease; D006801:Humans; D018320:Leishmania major / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D007895:Leishmania tropica / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D016773:Leishmaniasis, Cutaneous / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000523:psychology
chemical_list: D001119:Arginase