Leishmania chagasi/infantum: further investigations on Leishmania tropisms in atypical cutaneous and visceral leishmaniasis foci in Central America

In Central America, apparently genetically identical Leishmania chagasi/infantum parasites cause cutaneous (CL) and visceral leishmaniasis (VL), the latter being more frequent in young children. The present study investigated if there were pathology-related differences in virulence between Honduran...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Experimental parasitology 2005-04, Vol.109 (4), p.209-219
Main Authors: Campos-Ponce, M., Ponce, C., Ponce, E., Maingon, R.D.C.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Blotting, Southern
Complement System Proteins - immunology
DNA, Protozoan - chemistry
Female
Honduras
Humans
Leishmania chagasi
Leishmania chagasi/infantum
Leishmania infantum - genetics
Leishmania infantum - immunology
Leishmania infantum - pathogenicity
Leishmania tropisms
Leishmania virulence factors
Leishmaniasis
Leishmaniasis, Cutaneous - parasitology
Leishmaniasis, Visceral - parasitology
Macrophages, Peritoneal - parasitology
Mice
Mice, Inbred BALB C
Restriction Mapping
Virulence
Virulence Factors - genetics
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Summary:In Central America, apparently genetically identical Leishmania chagasi/infantum parasites cause cutaneous (CL) and visceral leishmaniasis (VL), the latter being more frequent in young children. The present study investigated if there were pathology-related differences in virulence between Honduran CL and VL strains using Mediterranean L. infantum strains as a reference. Macrophage infectivity and serum sensitivity, properties thought to be associated with virulence, were similar between CL and VL strains from both regions. Attention focused on the genome organisation of genes for two candidate virulence factors: Leishmania mitogen activated protein kinase (LMPK) and cysteine proteinase b (Cpb). Interestingly, the Mediterranean strains exhibited restriction enzyme polymorphisms associated with tropism for both LMPK and Cpb genes whereas no differences were observed for the Honduran strains. We also report relative genetic homogeneity of the Honduran strains as compared to the Mediterranean strains and discuss it in terms of the probable origin for the Central American L. chagasi/infantum.
ISSN:0014-4894
1090-2449
DOI:10.1016/j.exppara.2004.11.013