Reported are the results of multidisciplinary studies on Leishmania turanica, which was isolated from the auricular tissues of naturally infected great gerbils in Xinjiang, China. Discussed are the biology of the parasite, its molecular biology, its pathogenicity in rodents and humans and its vectors. This was the first time that L. turanica had been reported in China. L. turanica is highly pat...

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 ...

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...

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 par...

Cutaneous leishmaniasis is the most important health problem in the city of Bushehr, southwestern Iran. The objective of the study was to determine some ecological aspects of sand flies in the city during 2010-2011. Sand flies were collected monthly from outdoors and indoors by sticky traps at four selected districts of the city. They were also dissected and examined by nested-PCR for identific...

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES The purpose of this study was to compare antimalarial activity of Artemisia turanica Krasch as Iranian flora with current antimalarial drugs against Plasmodium berghei in vivo in mice. METHODS Air-dried aerial parts of Iranian flora A. turanica were collected from Khorasan, northeastern Iran, extracted with Et2O/MeOH/Petrol and defatted. Toxicity of herbal extracts was...

BACKGROUND Leishmaniasis is an important public health disease in many developing countries as well in Iran. The main objective of this study was to investigate on leishmania infection of wild caught sand flies in an endemic focus of disease in Esfarayen district, north east of Iran. METHODS Sand flies were collected by sticky papers and mounted in a drop of Puri's medium for species identifi...

Artemisia is an important genus of Iranian flora. Cytotoxic activities for some species of the genus have already been reported. In this study, we have investigated the cytotoxic effects of n-hexane, CH2Cl2, EtOAc, EtOH, and EtOH/H2O (1:1) extracts of A. turanica Krasch. on two human leukemic cancer cell lines (K562 and HL-60) and J774 as normal cells using alamarBlue (resazurin) assay. PI stai...

BACKGROUND Zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis (ZCL) is a polymorphic disease which may show various symptoms. Genetic diversity of the parasite is suggested to be one of the factors influencing the clinical manifestation of the disease. METHODS This study used PCR for the detection and identification of leishmanial parasites at the species level and applied a multilocus microsatellite typing ap...

BACKGROUND Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) represents the most frequent vector borne parasitoses in Iran. The objective of this study was to determine the epidemiological features of CL including human infection and the reservoir host in the city of Bushehr, Bushehr Province, Iran during 2010-2011. METHODS Studies on human infection was carried out on 2962 school children aged 7-14 years old fro...