Arginase activity of Leishmania isolated from patients with cutaneous leishmaniasis

Abstract

Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is one of the most important vector-borne parasitic diseases, highly endemic in Iran, and its prevalence is increasing all over the country. Arginase (ARG) activity in isolated Leishmania parasites from CL patients is yet to be explored. This study aimed to compare the ARG activity of isolated Leishmania promastigotes from CL patients with a standard strain of Leishmania major and its influences on the disease pathogenesis. We recruited 16 confirmed CL patients from Qom Province, in central Iran; after detection of Leishmania species using PCR-RFLP, we assessed the levels of ARG in the isolated promastigotes and determined the parasites' growth rate. Only L. major was identified from CL patients. The level of ARG activity in the isolated Leishmania promastigotes from CL patients was significantly higher than that obtained from the standard strain of L. major. No significant correlations between ARG activity and lesion size, number or duration were observed; in contrast, a significant negative correlation was seen between ARG level and Leishmania' growth rate. The obtained results suggest that increased ARG expression and activity in the isolated Leishmania promastigotes might contribute to the higher parasite infectivity and play a major role in the pathogenicity of the CL.

Human Neutrophil Peptide 1 as immunotherapeutic agent against Leishmania infected BALB/c mice

“…After adding isonitrosopropiophenone (ISPF, Sigma) and heating at 100°C for 45 min, Urea concentration as the product of arginase activity on arginine substrate was determined at 540 nm using an automatic micro plate spectrophotometer (TECAN, USA). One unite is defined as the amount of enzyme that hydrolyze the formation of one μM of urea per minute [ 28 , 29 ].…”

Sambucus ebulus extract stimulates cellular responses in cutaneous leishmaniasis

“…One unit of enzyme activity is defined as the amount of enzyme catalysing the formation of 1 μmol of urea per minute. The protein content of each sample (25 μL) was measured by BCA Protein Assay Reagent (Thermo Scientific Pierce Chemical Co, Waltham , MA) using serially diluted bovine serum albumin (BSA) as standard …”

“…Based on World Health Organization (WHO) reports, nearly 12 million people are affected and 350 million individuals are at risk of the disease . Leishmania infection has been clinically categorized into three major forms: visceral leishmaniasis (VL), cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) and mucocutaneous leishmaniasis (MCL) . Globally, CL is the most prevalent form of the disease with approximately 1.2 million new cases diagnosed each year, where 90% of cases occur in seven developing countries including Afghanistan, Iran, Algeria, Peru, Brazil, Saudi Arabia and Syria …”

First case report of atypical disseminated cutaneous leishmaniasis in an opium abuser in Iran

“…Isolated parasites were subcultured and monitored regularly to check promastigotes growth. In this experiment, 2 × 10 6 parasites/mL at the logarithmic (2 days) growth phases were counted and used for DNA extraction.…”

“…Iran is the main endemic focus of cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) 5 , 6 in the Middle East and the main etiological agents of CL in the country are three species : L. major , L. tropica and less frequently L. infantum 1 , 5 , 7 , 8 . Different forms of CL have been reported in Iran 1 including post kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis (PKDL) 9 , muco-lymphatic leishmaniasis 10 , 11 and recently diffuse cutaneous leishmaniasis (DCL) 12 .…”