Background Rhipicephalus sanguineus is the most widely distributed tick in the world, which is partly due to its biological flexibility and the global distribution of its major host, the domestic dog. In Mediterranean region it could be principal reservoir host for Leishmania infantum, usually transmitted by the phlebotomine sand flies. In this study, we evaluated the vector potential of R. san...

ABSTRACT: Leishmania infantum causes canine leishmaniasis. Using parasitological and molecular analyses, we identified L. in the reproductive organs of male female dogs. histochemistry, immunohistochemistry, PCR, examined tissue samples from 8 dogs 16 diagnosed with Despite absence macroscopic or microscopic lesions these organs, observed amastigotes testis uterus. PCR sequencing tissues reveal...

Visceral leishmaniasis (VL), also known as Kala-Azar, is a disseminated protozoal infection caused principally by Leishmania donovani and Leishmania infantum (known as Leishmania chagasi in South America). The therapeutic options for VL are diverse and depend on different factors, such as the geographical area of the infection, development of resistance to habitual treatments, HIV co-infection,...

Leishmania is a genus of protozoan parasites that give rise to a range of diseases called Leishmaniasis that affects annually an estimated 1.3 million people from 88 countries. Leishmania donovani and Leishmania (L.) infantum chagasi are responsible to cause the visceral leishmaniasis. The parasite can use assorted strategies to interfere with the host homeostasis to establish persistent infect...

Thailand is considered as a non-endemic area for leishmaniasis. We report the first case of visceral leishmaniasis caused by Leishmania infantum in a Thai man living in Bangkok.

background: the therapy of leishmania infection is difficult and each year 1.5 million new cases of cutaneous leishmaniasis and 500,000 new cases of visceral leishmaniasis are estimated, therefore, there is a need for an effective vaccine. monoclonal antibody (mab) is one of the suitable methods for isolation and purification of leishmania antigens. in this report, we produced several mab again...

Natural killer (NK) cells are sentinel components of the innate response to pathogens, but the cell types, pathogen recognition receptors, and cytokines required for their activation in vivo are poorly defined. Here, we investigated the role of plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs), myeloid DCs (mDCs), Toll-like receptors (TLRs), and of NK cell stimulatory cytokines for the induction of an NK cel...

Background: The causative agent of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) in Iran is Leishmania infantum (L. infantum) (Mediterranean type) and its major reservoir host is the dog. Ob-jective: To compare the serological methods including direct agglutination test (DAT), indirect immunofluorescent-antibody test (IFA) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent as-say (ELISA) for serodiagnosis of endemic strain of L. i...

The most frequently used diagnostic methods were compared in a longitudinal survey with Leishmania infantum-infected asymptomatic dogs from an area of Italy where leishmaniasis is endemic. In February and March 2005, 845 asymptomatic dogs were tested by an immunofluorescence antibody test (IFAT), a dipstick assay (DS), and an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for L. infantum and by IFAT...

Infection of dendritic cells by the human protozoal parasite Leishmania is part of its survival strategy. The dendritic cell receptors for Leishmania have not been established and might differ in their interactions among Leishmania species and infective stages. We present evidence that the surface C-type lectin DC-SIGN (CD 209) is a receptor for promastigote and amastigote infective stages from...