Amplification of small subunit rRNA sequences of trypanosomatids from human samples of a patient diagnosed with visceral leishmaniasis.
Tissue samples from a patient diagnosed with visceral leishmaniasis in northeast region of Brazil were used for DNA isolation in order to detect trypanosomatid small subunit RNA sequence. We used DNA samples from liver,spleen, blood, bone marrow and skin biopsy in PCR using primers described by Noyes et al (International Journal for Parasitology v. 29, p. 331-339, 1999). Amplicons were sequenced by Sanger method and phylogenetic analysis showed that the parasites were more related to other Leishmaniinae parasites, such as Crithidia and Leptomonas (one-host parasites exclusive for insects), rather than Leishmania species.