INTRODUCTION: Molecular techniques have been shown to be alternative methods for the accurate detection of infectious and parasitic diseases, such as the leishmaniases. The present study describes the optimization and evaluation of a duplex real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR) protocol developed for the simultaneous detection of Leishmania infantum DNA and sample quality control. METHODS: After ...

The genomic organization and transcription of the genes encoding the histone H3 of the protozoan parasite Leishmania infantum have been studied. It was found that there are multiple copies of the histone H3 genes distributed in chromosomal bands XIX and XIV. The nucleotide sequence of two of the L. infantum H3 genes, each one located in a different chromosome, is reported. Although the nucleoti...

In this study, we compared a rapid immunochromatographic test (Speed Leish K; BVT Groupe Virbac, La Seyne sur Mer, France) with an indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFAT) and Western blotting (WB) for the detection of Leishmania infantum antibodies in dogs. A total of 250 serum samples were collected from 125 L. infantum-positive and 125 L. infantum-negative dogs. Among the positive samples, 8...

Sera from 35 patients suffering from Mediterranean visceral leishmaniasis (caused by Leishmania donovani infantum) and 59 patients with various forms of cutaneous leishmaniasis prevalent in the sub-Mediterranean countries (caused by Leishmania major, L. donovani infantum, or Leishmania tropica) were tested by immunoblotting and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) with both membrane and so...

Iberian hares (Lepus granatensis) were recently deemed responsible for an outbreak of human leishmaniasis affecting metropolitan Madrid, Spain. However, the reservoir potential of hares in Europe is poorly known. We report a retrospective survey on Leishmania infantum, the causal agent of zoonotic endemic leishmaniasis in the Mediterranean basin, infection status of Iberian, European (Le. europ...

BACKGROUND The causative agent of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) in Iran is Leishmania infantum (L. infantum) (Mediterranean type) and its major reservoir host is the dog. OBJECTIVE To compare the serological methods including direct agglutination test (DAT), indirect immunofluorescent-antibody test (IFA) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for serodiagnosis of endemic strain of L. inf...

background: the causative agent of visceral leishmaniasis (vl) in iran is leishmania infantum (l. infantum) (mediterranean type) and its major reservoir host is the dog. ob-jective: to compare the serological methods including direct agglutination test (dat), indirect immunofluorescent-antibody test (ifa) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent as-say (elisa) for serodiagnosis of endemic strain of l. i...

Parole chiave Cane, Epidemiologia, kDNA RFLP-PCR, Leishmania infantum, Tipizzazione molecolare. Riassunto Il metodo più frequentemente utilizzato per la classificazione di Leishmania spp. è ancora rappresentato dalla caratterizzazione isoenzimatica sebbene sia un metodo laborioso e in alcuni casi non sufficientemente discriminante. Nel presente studio abbiamo utilizzato una reazione di amplific...

clinically infected dogs have been identified as the main reservoir hosts of visceral leishmaniasis (vl)caused by leishmania infantum. recently asymptomatic infected dogs were regarded to be as important asclinically ill dogs. this study was aimed to determine the seroprevalence of l. infantum infection amongasymptomatic dogs in the southwest and central parts of iran and to investigate possibl...

All the physical linkage groups constituting the genome of Leishmania infantum have been identified for the first time by hybridization of specific DNA probes to pulsed field gradient-separated chromosomes. The numerous co-migrating chromosomes were individualised using the distinctive size polymorphisms which occur among strains of the L. infantum/L. donovani complex as a tool. A total of 244 ...