Molecular characterization of Leishmania spp. in reservoir hosts in endemic foci of zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis in Iran

Abstract

Zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis (ZCL) is an expanding disease and a public health issue in Iran. In the present study, rate of natural infection of rodent populations with Leishmania was investigated in six endemic foci including 28 villages in Golestan, Esfahan, Yazd, Fars, Khuzestan and Ilam provinces. A total of 593 rodents were captured and identified as Rhombomys opimus (n = 325), Meriones libycus (n = 171), Meriones persicus (n = 27), Tatera indica (n = 37), Nesokia indica (n = 12), Rattus rattus (n = 13) and Mus musculus (n = 8). Microscopic examinations of Giemsa-stained smears showed that 108 out of 593 (18.2%) rodents were infected with Leishmania spp., whereas infection of 186 out of 593 (31.4%) rodents with Leishmania was then confirmed by ITS1-PCR. The highest rate of infection was found in R. opimus (prevalence of 35%) and M. libycus (31%).

The Geographical Distribution of Cutaneous Leishmaniasis Causative Agents in Iran and Its Neighboring Countries, A Review

“…Khorasn-Razavi province is an area of hyper-endemic CL that had a prevalence rate of 64/100,000 in 2013 (30). Mashhad city, the capital of the province, is a long-standing ACL endemic focus and a recent study reconfirmed the predominance (10:1) of ACL over ZCL in 94 patients (60).…”

“…There are two forms of CL in Iran, ZCL caused by L. major and ACL caused by L. tropica. The main animal reservoirs for L. major infection are desert rodents, including Rhombomys opimus (great gerbil), Tatera indica (Indian gerbil or antelope rat), Meriones libycus (libyan jird), M. persicus (Persian jird), M. hurrianae (Indian desert jird), and Nesokia indica (short-tailed bandicoot) (4,30,31). Therefore, L. major infection is mostly endemic in rural and arid areas and is transmitted mostly by Phlebotomus papatasi; however, urban foci in northeast, central, southeast, and southwest Iran are well documented as well as the reporting of sporadic cases.…”

Polymerase chain reaction detection of LeishmaniaDNA in skin biopsy samples in Sri Lanka where the causative agent of cutaneous leishmaniasis is Leishmania donovani

“…KDNA PCR has shown to have > 90% sensitivity and 100% specificity in detecting Leishmania DNA in clinical samples ( Salotra et al 2001 , Nasreen et al 2012 ). Internal transcribed spacer (ITS)1 PCR followed by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis has also been widely used to identify Leishmania parasite to species and subspecies level ( Akhoundi et al 2013 , Hajjaran et al 2013 , Mosleh et al 2015 ).…”

Faunistic Study of the Rodents of North Khorasan Province, North East of Iran, 2011–2013

“…The fauna of the rodent is medically important in Iran and in North Khorasan Province ( 3 – 8 ). These are identified and reported 15 species of rodent from this Province, Spermophilus fulvus , Microtus transcaspicus , M. paradoxus , Ellobius fuscocapillus , Cricetulus migratorius , Calomyscus sp., Mus musculus , Apodemus witherbyi , Nesokia indica , Gerbillus nanus , Meriones libycus , M. meridianus , M. persicus , Rhombomys opimus and Dryomys nitedula ( 7 ).…”

“…North Khorasan Province was formerly known as eastern range of human plague epidemics in Iran ( 5 ) and also has been the objective for study of rodent-borne diseases, especially, as a purpose of investigation on Leishmaniasis and leptospirosis ( 6 , 9 ). The province is bordered by Golestan Province in the west which is one of the most important focus of zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis in Iran ( 3 ).…”