In Brazil, Leishmania infantum mainly affects humans and dogs. The state of Bahia presents many dogs that are positive for this parasite. Despite the importance of epidemiology in this region, there are still very few studies that have assessed the genetic characteristics of L. infantum. The aim of this study is to investigate the genetic variability of L. infantum isolated identified in natura...

OBJECTIVES To evaluate in vitro interactions between paromomycin sulphate and the antileishmanial drugs meglumine antimoniate, amphotericin B, miltefosine and azithromycin against intracellular Leishmania (Leishmania) infantum chagasi, Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis and Leishmania (Leishmania) amazonensis amastigotes in peritoneal mouse macrophages. METHODS First, drug susceptibility was a...

Iron plays a central role in host-parasite interactions, since both intervenients need iron for survival and growth, but are sensitive to iron-mediated toxicity. The host's iron overload is often associated with susceptibility to infection. However, it has been previously reported that iron overload prevented the growth of Leishmania major, an agent of cutaneous leishmaniasis, in BALB/c mice. I...

BACKGROUND Rapid diagnosis of cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) and identification of Leishmania species is highly important for the disease management. In Israel, CL is caused mainly by Leishmania major and Leishmania tropica species. METHODS We established an easy to handle point of care lesion-swabbing, combined with a highly sensitive multiplex real time PCR (multiplex qPCR) for accurate and r...

BACKGROUND Visceral leishmaniasis has emerged as an important opportunistic disease among patients infected with HIV-1. Both HIV-1 and the protozoan parasite Leishmania can productively infect cells of the macrophage-dendritic cell lineage. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS Here we demonstrate that Leishmania infantum amastigotes increase HIV-1 production when human primary dendritic cells (DCs)...

BACKGROUND Canine visceral leishmaniasis (CVL) is a systemic disease with a high mortality rate, caused by a diphasic protozoan parasite, Leishmania infantum/chagasi in the world. The objective of the present study was to determine the presence of CVL in the city and suburbs of Kerman, using a range of serological, histopathological and molecular methods. METHODS Blood samples were taken from...

Leishmania amazonensis parasites are etiological agents of cutaneous leishmaniasis in the New World. BALB/c mice highly susceptible to L. challenge due their inability mount parasite-dependent IFN-γ-mediated responses. Here, we analyzed capacity a single administration LiΔHSP70-II genetically-modified attenuated infantum line preventing challenged with virulent parasites. In previous studies, t...