The high sensitivity of a PCR- ELISA in the diagnosis of cutaneous and visceral leishmaniasis caused by Leishmania infantum

Abstract In general, the conventional techniques available for the diagnosis of leishmaniasis have relatively low sensitivity. This means that parasite-rich samples (which can usually only be collected by very invasive methods, such as bone-marrow aspiration) must be employed. This problem has not yet been solved even by use of the PCR-based techniques currently available. However, a new PCR-ELISA has been developed for the diagnosis of cutaneous (CL) and visceral leishmaniasis (VL) caused by Leishmania infantum. This assay appears to have sufficient sensitivity to be effective in the diagnosis of VL not only when bone-marrow aspirates are investigated but also when the samples are of peripheral blood. Overall, the ability of the PCR-ELISA to detect Leishmania, in 76 samples (22 of peripheral blood, 36 bone-marrow aspirates and 18 skin samples) from 72 patients living in a endemic region, was better than that of culture or the examination of Giemsa-stained smears. For example, L. infantum kDNA was detecte...