Identification of Leishmania species and frequency distribution of LRV1 and LRV2 viruses on cutaneous leishmaniasis patients in Isfahan Province, Iran.

PURPOSE: Leishmaniasis is one of the most serious health problems in developing countries. Iran is one of the endemic regions of cutaneous leishmaniasis. Leishmania RNA virus (LRV) is a dsRNA virus member of the Totiviridae family, which was first detected in the promastigotes of Leishmania braziliensis guyanensis. Our study aimed to investigate possible changes in the predominant and causative strains of CL and screening the LRV1 and LRV2 species genome from Leishmania species isolated from the lesions of patients.

MATERIALS AND

METHODS

Direct smear samples obtained from 62 patients with leishmaniasis referring to the Skin Diseases and Leishmaniasis Research Center in Isfahan province during 2021-2022 were examined. Total DNA extraction procedures and conservation of site-specific multiplex PCR and nested PCR were performed for detecting Leishmania species. The molecular identification of LRV1 and LRV2 viruses, samples were used for total RNA extraction and real-time (RT)-PCR analysis, followed by conducting a restriction enzyme assay to confirm the PCR products.

RESULTS

Of the total Leishmania isolates, 54 and 8 isolates were identified as L. major and L. tropica, respectively. LRV2 was identified in 18 samples affected by L. major, while LRV1 was only detected in one of the samples with L. tropica. No LRV2 was found in any samples with L. tropica. The results showed that there was a significant relationship between LRV1 and the type of leishmaniasis (Sig. ​= ​0.009, P ​≤ ​0.05), while this relationship was not observed between LRV2 and the type of leishmaniasis.

CONCLUSIONS

The presence of a significant number of LRV2 in isolated samples, as well as the recognition of LRV1 in one of the Old World leishmaniasis species, which is a new result, could pave the way for investigating further aspects of this disease and successful treatment strategies in future studies.