BACKGROUND Zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis (ZCL) is an expanding disease and public health problem in Iran. In the current study, natural Leishmania infection rate and seasonal fluctuation of the infection in Rhombomys opimus population of a hyperendemic focus of ZCL in Iran was investigated. METHODS The study was conducted from October 2006 to October 2008 in Esfahan Province, central part ...

Zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis (ZCL) caused by Leishmania (L.) major parasites represents a major health problem with a large spectrum of clinical manifestations. Psammomys (P.) obesus and Meriones (M.) shawi represent the most important host reservoirs of these parasites in Tunisia. We already reported that infection prevalence is different between these two rodent species. We aimed in this ...

BACKGROUND Zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis (ZCL) is polymorphic disease that may show various clinical manifestations. OBJECTIVES This study investigates the determination of genetic variation within the species of Leishmania major isolates from new cases in Chabahar, a port city in Southeast Iran (situated at the Iran-Pakistan border). Migration in this region indicates that leishmaniasis i...

Background: Zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis (ZCL) is a polymorphic disease which may show various clinical manifestations. Although genetic variability of the parasite is suggested to be one of the factors influencing clinical manifestations in leishmaniasis, no data exist regarding genetic polymorphism of Leishmania major. Therefore, determination of genetic variation within the species of L....

Following an epidemiological survey of zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniosis (ZCL) in some villages of Badrood, a rural district north of the city of Natanz, central Iran, Phlebotomus (Phlebotomus ) papatasi Scopoli were found to be naturally infected with Leishmania (Leishmania) major zymodeme MON-26. Sandflies were collected and dissected biweekly from rodent burrows during sandfly season, Ap...

OBJECTIVE We examined in 20-week-old Zucker diabetic fatty (ZDF) rats whether restoration of hepatic glucokinase (GK) expression would alter hepatic glucose flux and improve hyperglycemia. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS ZDF rats were treated at various doses with an adenovirus that directs the expression of rat liver GK (AdvCMV-GKL) dose dependently, and various metabolic parameters were compare...

BACKGROUND In the northeast and central parts of Iran, Rhombomys opimus (great gerbil) is the primary reservoir host of zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis (ZCL). This study used both parasitological and molecular methods to identify Leishmania spp. and their different haplotypes that were circulating in the great gerbil populations in ZCL foci from northeastern Iran. METHODS A cross-sectional s...

Based on the knowledge that a cured infection protects the individual from re-infection, the development of a vaccine to prevent leishmaniasis has been a goal for nearly a century. Indeed, it is generally believed that after healing of leishmaniasis, sterile cure is never achieved and that few residual living parasites will remain sequestered within some host cells that offer them a safe shelte...

background : zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis (zcl), an important public health problem in iran, is sensitive to climate conditions. this study aimed to examine dynamic relations between the climate factors and incidence of zcl in golestan province, northern iran during 2010–2012. methods : data of monthly climatic factors, including temperature variables, relative humidity variables, evaporati...