title: Distinct Leishmania infantum Strains Circulate in Humans and Dogs in the Emilia-Romagna Region, Northeastern Italy.
abstract: Human leishmaniasis is an emerging problem in Italy and is on the increase in the Emilia-Romagna region, northeastern part of the country. Nevertheless, studies dealing with the molecular characterization of Leishmania spp. circulating in these areas are limited. In the present work, we explored the genetic polymorphism of Leishmania isolates from 28 cases of canine leishmaniasis and three cases of human visceral leishmaniasis (VL), which occurred in 2013-2014 in the Emilia-Romagna region. The characterization was carried out in comparison with nine human isolates of Leishmania from other VL endemic Italian regions and two reference strains. Nucleic acid from 31 Leishmania-positive phlebotomine sandfly pools, sampled in 2012-2013 in the Emilia-Romagna region, were also evaluated. DNA amplification and sequencing of the ribosomal internal transcribed spacer-1 and of a repetitive nuclear region on chromosome 31 were carried out for genotyping. Two size polymorphic targets were also analyzed by PCR, the cpb E/F-gene and the k26-gene. Altogether, the analysis showed the circulation of different Leishmania infantum genotypes in the Emilia-Romagna region: two genotypes found in dogs from public kennels were similar to VL isolates from other Italian regions, whereas a third genotype was detected in VL cases of the Emilia-Romagna region and in all but one of the sandfly pools. The combined molecular tools applied in this study can constitute a helpful support for parasite tracking (e.g., in outbreak investigations) and for a better understanding of the epidemiological evolution of leishmaniasis in northeastern Italy.
authors.affiliation: 1 Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Lombardia e dell'Emilia-Romagna "Bruno Ubertini", Brescia, Italy .
authors.forename: Gianluca
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Rugna
authors.affiliation: 1 Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Lombardia e dell'Emilia-Romagna "Bruno Ubertini", Brescia, Italy .
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Carra
authors.affiliation: 1 Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Lombardia e dell'Emilia-Romagna "Bruno Ubertini", Brescia, Italy .
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Corpus
authors.affiliation: 1 Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Lombardia e dell'Emilia-Romagna "Bruno Ubertini", Brescia, Italy .
authors.forename: Mattia
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Calzolari
authors.affiliation: 2 Department of Veterinary Medical Sciences, University of Bologna , Ozzano Emilia, Italy .
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Salvatore
authors.affiliation: 3 Medical and Veterinary Entomology Department, Centro Agricoltura Ambiente "G. Nicoli" IAEA Collaborating Center , Crevalcore, Italy .
authors.forename: Romeo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bellini
authors.affiliation: 2 Department of Veterinary Medical Sciences, University of Bologna , Ozzano Emilia, Italy .
authors.forename: Antonietta
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Di Francesco
authors.affiliation: 4 Clinic of Infectious Diseases, Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria , Policlinico of Modena, Modena, Italy .
authors.forename: Erica
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Franceschini
authors.affiliation: 5 Fondazione IRCCS Policlinico S. Matteo , S.C. Microbiologia e Virologia, Pavia, Italy .
authors.forename: Antonella
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bruno
authors.affiliation: 2 Department of Veterinary Medical Sciences, University of Bologna , Ozzano Emilia, Italy .
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Poglayen
authors.affiliation: 6 Unit of Microbiology, Department of Experimental, Diagnostic, and Specialty Medicine, St. Orsola Malpighi University Hospital, University of Bologna , Bologna, Italy .
authors.forename: Stefania
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Varani
authors.affiliation: 7 National Reference Center for Leishmaniasis (C.Re.Na.L.) , Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Sicilia, Palermo, Italy .
authors.forename: Fabrizio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Vitale
authors.affiliation: 1 Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Lombardia e dell'Emilia-Romagna "Bruno Ubertini", Brescia, Italy .
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Merialdi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology*; D004285:Dogs; D062665:Epidemiological Monitoring; D006801:Humans; D018314:Leishmania infantum / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D007898:Leishmaniasis, Visceral / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary*; D010802:Phylogeny; D013045:Species Specificity
keywords: Leishmania; dogs; genetic polymorphism; humans; northeastern Italy; sandflies