Comparison of culture media in the isolation and diagnosis of cutaneous leishmaniasis.

Leishmaniasis is a common and significant parasitic disease among the Middle East and Mediterranean countries. Cutaneous and visceral forms of leishmaniasis are seen in Turkey. Direct microscopic examination of Giemsa-stained smears and inoculation into a culture medium are gold standards in diagnosis. In the present study, three diffferent culture media (pepton-yeast extract, brain heart and nutrient broth) were used in comparison with Novy-MacNeal-Nicolle and RPMI 1640 as control media to assess the effectiveness of new culture media both in diagnosis in patients and after isolation from the mice. In addition, smears prepared from the infectious material were stained with Giemsa and examined under a light microscope. Samples obtained from the lesions of cutaneous leishmaniasis produced on the sole of mice were inoculated into all culture media; growth were detected in pepton-yeast extract and nutrient broth media. Smears prepared from the lesions of these mice were stained with Giemsa and amastigotes were detected on them. Growth was also seen in control media. Five of 12 cultivations of the human samples suspected of having cutaneous leishmaniasis revealed growth in pepton-yeast extract medium and nutrient broth medium. Microscopic examination of these five patients showed the presence of amastigotes and growth in control media, while none was observed in the remaining seven cases. These results indicated that pepton-yeast extract and nutrient broth media could be preferred in both isolation of the parasites and diagnosis of cutaneous leishmaniasis. Key words: