title: Epidemiological analysis of Leishmania tropica strains and giemsa-stained smears from Syrian and Turkish leishmaniasis patients using multilocus microsatellite typing (MLMT).
abstract: Turkey is located in an important geographical location, in terms of the epidemiology of vector-borne diseases, linking Asia and Europe. Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is one of the endemic diseases in a Turkey and according to the Ministry Health of Turkey, 45% of CL patients originate from Şanlıurfa province located in southeastern Turkey. Herein, the epidemiological status of CL, caused by L. tropica, in Turkey was examined using multilocus microsatellite typing (MLMT) of strains obtained from Turkish and Syrian patients. A total of 38 cryopreserved strains and 20 Giemsa-stained smears were included in the present study. MLMT was performed using 12 highly specific microsatellite markers. Delta K (ΔK) calculation and Bayesian statistics were used to determine the population structure. Three main populations (POP A, B and C) were identified and further examination revealed the presence of three subpopulations for POP B and C. Combined analysis was performed using the data of previously typed L. tropica strains and Mediterranean and Şanlıurfa populations were identified. This finding suggests that the epidemiological status of L. tropica is more complicated than expected when compared to previous studies. A new population, comprised of Syrian L. tropica samples, was reported for the first time in Turkey, and the data presented here will provide new epidemiological information for further studies.
authors.affiliation: Ege University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Parasitology, Izmir, Turkey.
authors.forename: Mehmet
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-9460-1215
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Karakuş
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, IMRIC, Hebrew University - Hadassah Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel.|The Core Research Facility, The Faculty of Medicine, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel.
authors.forename: Abed
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nasereddin
authors.affiliation: Ege University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Medical Genetics, Izmir, Turkey.
authors.forename: Hüseyin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Onay
authors.affiliation: Ege University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Medical Genetics, Izmir, Turkey.
authors.forename: Emin
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Karaca
authors.affiliation: Dr. Ersin Arslan State Hospital, Microbiology Department, Gaziantep, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ahmet
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Özkeklikçi
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, IMRIC, Hebrew University - Hadassah Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel.
authors.forename: Charles L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Jaffe
authors.affiliation: Technical University of Applied Sciences Wildau, Division of Molecular Biotechnology and Functional Genetics, Wildau, Germany.
authors.forename: Katrin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kuhls
authors.affiliation: Celal Bayar University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Parasitology, Manisa, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ahmet
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Özbilgin
authors.affiliation: Adnan Menderes University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Parasitology, Aydın, Turkey.
authors.forename: Hatice
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ertabaklar
authors.affiliation: Ege University, Faculty of Science, Department of Biology, Izmir, Turkey.
authors.forename: Samiye
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Demir
authors.affiliation: Ege University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Parasitology, Izmir, Turkey.
authors.forename: Yusuf
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Özbel
authors.affiliation: Ege University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Parasitology, Izmir, Turkey.
authors.forename: Seray
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Töz
mesh_terms: D001399:Azure Stains; D001499:Bayes Theorem; D016054:DNA, Protozoan / Q000302:isolation & purification; D014644:Genetic Variation; D062305:Geographic Mapping; D006801:Humans; D007895:Leishmania tropica / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D016773:Leishmaniasis, Cutaneous / Q000453:epidemiology*; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats; D058885:Multilocus Sequence Typing; D010802:Phylogeny; D013593:Syria / Q000453:epidemiology; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D001399:Azure Stains; D016054:DNA, Protozoan