Distinguishing Leishmania tropica and Leishmania major in the Middle East using the polymerase chain reaction with kinetoplast DNA-specific primers

Gerlind Anders, Carol L. Eisenberger, Flory Jonas, Charles L. Greenblatt*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

58 Scopus citations

Abstract

This paper reports attempts to develop a sensitive and inexpensive procedure for rapid diagnosis of cutaneous leishmaniasis at the species level using skin scrapings from patients. The presence of 3 species (Leishmania major, L. tropica and L. infantum) in Israel and the West Bank demonstrates the need for a species-specific detection method in this region. The primer pair Uni21/Lmj4 was developed on the basis of an L. major minicircle sequence but it also amplified other 'Old World' species of Leishmania. Due to species-specific differences in the size of minicircles, these primers can be used in the polymerase chain reaction to answer diagnostic and epidemiological questions.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)S1/87-S1/92
JournalTransactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
Volume96
Issue numberSUPPL. 1
DOIs
StatePublished - 2002

Keywords

  • Diagnosis
  • Israel
  • Leishmania infantum
  • Leishmania major
  • Leishmania tropica
  • Leishmaniasis
  • Middle East
  • Polymerase chain reaction

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