Identification of causative species in patients with cuteneous leishmaniasis in Diyarbakır by polymerase chain reaction (pcr)-restriction fragment lenght polymorphism (RFLP)

Background: Leishmaniasis is a protozoan disease caused by more than twenty Leishmania species which are transmitted by infected phlebotomine sandflies to humans. Leishmaniasis include multiple clinical syndromes such as visceral , mucosal and cutaneous forms. Cutaneous Leishmaniasis (CL) is the most common and endemic form in southeastern Turkey. Purpose: CL can be caused by L. major, L. tropica, L. mexicana and L. amazonensis. Microscopy remains to be the standard diagnostic method because of its cheapness, ease of application and high specificity . Microscopic examination of smears, parasite culture and serological tests are performed for diagnosis. Recently several molecular methods, especially those based on the Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) have been developed for identification of Leishmania species. Method: In this study, 150 smear samples taken from patients with clinical findings of CL were studied by PCR- RFLP (restriction fragment length polymorphism) Results: Leishmania tropica was detected in 128 smear sample. L. tropica was found to be the most common species causing CL in southeastern Turkey. Conclusion: Identification of Leishmania species is important because different types may require different treatments. Determining the common species in the region may lead to develop treatment protocols.