Background and objectives: Cutaneous leishmaniasis is endemic in most areas of Iran, and the diagnosis of its species is essential for controlling the disease. Leishmania major is the causative agent for cutaneous leishmaniasis in humans. Molecular methods are generally more sensitive than microscopic methods. The present study aimed to use a polymerase chain reaction-enzyme linked immunosorben...

The obligate intracellular pathogen Leishmania major survives and multiplies in professional phagocytes. The evasion strategy to circumvent killing by host phagocytes and establish a productive infection is poorly understood. Here we report that the virulent inoculum of Leishmania promastigotes contains a high ratio of annexin A5-binding apoptotic parasites. This subpopulation of parasites is c...

E10-5A3 is a dhfr-ts- Leishmania major double knockout auxotrophic shown previously to induce substantial protection against virulent L. major infection in both genetically susceptible and resistant mice. We investigated the capacity of dhfr-ts- to protect against heterologous infection by L. amazonensis. The degree of protection was evaluated by immunization of BALB/c or C57BL/6 mice with E10-...

We report for the first time the successful use of fluconazole to treat cutaneous leishmaniasis due to Leishmania braziliensis. We used escalating doses from 5 to 8 mg/kg per day. At a dose of 5 mg/kg per day, 75% patients were cured, and at 8 mg/kg per day, the cure rate was 100%. Fluconazole was well tolerated.

Protective immunity against Leishmania major generated by DNA encoding the LACK (Leishmania homologue of receptor for activated C kinase) Ag has been shown to be more durable than vaccination with LACK protein plus IL-12. One mechanism to account for this may be the selective ability of DNA vaccination to induce CD8+ IFN-gamma-producing T cells. In this regard, we previously reported that deple...

the early cytokines production in response to live logarithmic and stationary phase promastigotes of leishmania major was examined on the peripheral blood cells of the healthy individuals. whole blood cultures were stimulated by either logarithmic or stationary phase promastigotes. ifn- and il-10 productions were assessed by specific sandwich elisa. the results showed that the logarithmic prom...

background: molecular diversity of leishmania major and its morphological changes have become a controversial issue among researchers. some aspects of polymorphic shapes of amastigotes in clinical manifestations along with molecular variation were evaluated among suspected patients of some exceptional zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis locations in northern khuzestan, southwestern iran. methods: ...