Study on human cutaneous leishmaniasis in North Khorasan, North-east of Iran during 2013 to 2017

Background: Leishmaniasis is a zoonotic infectious disease caused by Leishmania species. The identification of parasite species and the type of disease is beneficial for treatment and preventive modalities.Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the Leishmania species that are responsible for CL among skin impression smears using molecular techniques in North Khorasan province, north-eastern Iran.Materials and Methods: study was conducted on 200 positive smears prepared from patients’ CL lesions archived in health care centers of the province. Among positive microscopy samples, 40 smears with low-parasitemia were selected for DNA extraction and PCR-RFLP based on ITS1 genes. Additionally, some random samples were analyzed by sequencing and phylogenetic tree methods.Results: Among 40 slide smears, 39 cases were identified as L. major and only 1 cases as L. tropica. Sequencing and phylogenetic analysis revealed that L. major strains isolated were more similar to other Iranian isolates with the accession nos. of from Khorasan and Golestan provinces. Current study confirmed an old pattern endemicity of Zoonotic CL in North-East of Iran.Conclusion: Current study confirmed an old pattern endemicity of Zoonotic CL in North-East of Iran. However, the information of the present study would help better controlling of various leishmaniases in other similar areas

Keywords:

Human Cutaneous Leishmaniasis , Leishmania , PCR , Sequencing , Phylogenetic tree , Iran