ABSTRACT:
Introduction & Objective: Cutaneous Leishmaniasis (CL) is a parasitic disease caused by Leishmania parasites. Clinical manifestation of this disease ranges from a small papule to disseminated cutaneous lesion or chronic tuberculoid ulcer and is based on the type and virulence of parasite and also immune responses of the host. This study aimed to determine the virulence of Leishmania parasite isolated from cutaneous leishmaniasis patients.
Materials & Methods: Isolated parasites from CL patients were cultured. Macrophage cell line (J774) cultured in RPMI medium was used in this study to find out the virulence of isolated parasite. Cell line was infected by metacyclic form of parasite where parasite was added to the macrophage culture on a ratio of 10/1. Three days later, cell lines were checked for any infection and the rate of macrophage infectivity and mean of parasite number in each macrophage were calculated.
Results: Results of this study showed that virulence of isolated parasite was different where the rate of macrophage infection was 10-63%. Results also revealed that there was a correlation between the rate of macrophage infection and type of ulcers, where more invasive isolates induced ulcerative sores. No correlation was found between the rate of macrophage infection and place of resident of CL patients.
Conclusion: Isolated parasites from CL patients had different virulence and this might be the reason for various clinical signs in CL. Molecular and biochemical characterization of the most virulent isolates can be useful for vaccine development and also for drug related studies.
Sarkari B, Rezanejad H, Hatam G, Motazedian M, Mirjalili A. An in Vitro Study on Virulence of Leishmania Parasite Isolated from Cutaneous Leishmaniasis Patients. armaghanj 2005; 10 (3) :17-24 URL: http://armaghanj.yums.ac.ir/article-1-773-en.html