Abstract
Visceral leishmaniasis (VL), the most severe form of leishmaniasis, is caused by Leishmania donovani. In addition to fatal VL, these parasites also cause skin diseases in immune-competent and -suppressed people, post-kala azar dermal leishmaniasis (PKDL) and HIV/VL co-infections, respectively. Genetic polymorphism in 36 Ethiopian and Sudanese L. donovani strains from VL, PKDL and HIV/VL patients was examined using Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP), kDNA minicircle sequencing and Southern blotting. Strains were isolated from different patient tissues: in VL from lymph node, spleen or bone marrow; and in HIV/VL from skin, spleen or bone marrow. When VL and PKDL strains from the same region in Sudan were examined by Southern blotting using a DNA probe to the L. donovani 28S rRNA gene only minor differences were observed. kDNA sequence analysis distributed the strains in no particular order among four clusters (A – D), while AFLP analysis grouped the strains according to geographical origin into two major clades, Southern Ethiopia (SE) and Sudan/Northern Ethiopia (SD/NE). Strains in the latter clade were further divided into subpopulations by zymodeme, geography and year of isolation, but not by clinical symptoms. However, skin isolates showed significantly (p < 0.0001) fewer polymorphic AFLP fragments (average 10 strains = 348.6 ± 8.1) than VL strains (average 26 strains = 383.5 ± 3.8).
Highlights
The leishmaniases are vector-borne diseases caused by several species and subspecies of obligate intracellular parasites belonging to the genus Leishmania
Most Sudanese (SD) strains originated from the village Barbar El Fugara, while the majority of Ethiopian strains originated from the Metema - Humera region (Dereure et al, 2003; Gelanew et al, 2010b; Pratlong et al, 2001; Rougeron et al, 2011; Zackay et al, 2013) in northwestern Ethiopia
36 East African L. donovani strains were examined by Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP) generating 411 polymorphic markers that were used for analysis of genetic diversity
Summary
The leishmaniases are vector-borne diseases caused by several species and subspecies of obligate intracellular parasites belonging to the genus Leishmania. Diseases caused by these parasites are endemic in tropical and subtropical regions of both the Old and New World. The parasites metastasize from the original lesion to the naso-pharynx region where massive tissue destruction may occur resulting in extensive disfigurement. This form of disease does not self-cure nor does it respond well to drug treatment. The estimated annual number of new cases of VL worldwide is about 200,000–400,000 (Alvar et al, 2012)
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