Molecular identification of cutaneous leishmaniasis agents in Birjand, Iran

Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is an endemic disease in different areas of Iran. During past years، the disease was sporadic in Birjand. But، it seems that during recent five years a stable focal leishmaniasis has been developed in the area. The present study was designed to determine the species of Leishmania parasites in cutaneous lesions of patients residing in the city of Birjand. In this cross-sectional study، 80 samples of microscopically-positive slides of cutaneous lesions، belonging to suspected CL patients during the past five years، were examined. The variable kinetoplastic regions of the DNA of leishmania and ribosomal Internal Transcribed Subunit 1 (ITS1) of the parasite were multiplied by means of PCR procedure. Then، All PCR products of ITS1 were digested with HaeIII for species identification. PCR-RFLP profile of ITS1 rDNA was able to identify species of leishmania in all 80 microscopically-positive (100%) slides and 13 out of 30 (43. 3%) microscopically-negative ones. But only 46 samples (57. 5%) were identified by means of KDNA PCR. Among the the all subjects، 8 patients (10%) had leishmania major and 72 (90%) had been infected with leishmania tropica. PCR-RFLP of ITS1 rDNA of leishmania is recommended to diagnose infection with CL agents، because of its high sensitivity.