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ABSTRACT: Introduction & Objective: Cutaneous Leishmaniasis (CL) is a parasitic disease caused by Leishmania parasites. Clinical manifestation of this disease ranges from a small papule to disseminated cutaneous lesion or chronic tuberculoid ulcer and is based on the type and virulence of parasite and also immune responses of the host. This study aimed to determine the virulence of Leishmania parasite isolated from cutaneous leishmaniasis patients. Materials & Methods: Isolated parasites from CL patients were cultured. Macrophage cell line (J774) cultured in RPMI medium was used in this study to find out the virulence of isolated parasite. Cell line was infected by metacyclic form of parasite where parasite was added to the macrophage culture on a ratio of 10/1. Three days later, cell lines were checked for any infection and the rate of macrophage infectivity and mean of parasite number in each macrophage were calculated. Results: Results of this study showed that virulence of isolated parasite was different where the rate of macrophage infection was 10-63%. Results also revealed that there was a correlation between the rate of macrophage infection and type of ulcers, where more invasive isolates induced ulcerative sores. No correlation was found between the rate of macrophage infection and place of resident of CL patients. Conclusion: Isolated parasites from CL patients had different virulence and this might be the reason for various clinical signs in CL. Molecular and biochemical characterization of the most virulent isolates can be useful for vaccine development and also for drug related studies.

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Abstract

Background and Aim: Leishmaniasis is one of the most common epidemic diseases in tropical regions of the world. The disease is affected by economic, social, cultural, environmental and climatic factors. Fars province is one of the areas with high prevalence of this disease. Due to the occurrence of climate change in recent years in the country and in this province, the present study was conducted to evaluate the epidemiology of cutaneous Leishmaniasis in Marvdasht city in 2017.

Methods: This descriptive-analytic study was conducted on the epidemiology of cutaneous Leishmaniasis in Marvdasht city in 2015. Accordingly, demographic data of all patients registered in the Marijuana Medical Center's Marijuana Infection Unit were extracted and analyzed by descriptive statistics, independent t test, and Kruskal Wallis using SPSS version 16 software.

Results: The incidence of disease in the whole population was 13.44, in men 14.4 and in 12.4% in 10 thousand people. Most cases were in the age group of 21-30, housewives, and villagers. The hands had the most lesion and most people had more than 5 lesions. Also, the incidence of illness in the fall season was higher than in other seasons. There was no statistically significant difference in the incidence of disease based on gender (p <0.05).

Conclusion: Based on the results of this study, the incidence of cutaneous Leishmaniasis in the city of Marvdasht is high and there is no significant difference in gender-related illness. The incidence of illness was higher in housewives and residents of the city. As a result, appropriate health Proceedings, including controlling the vector and the reservoir of the disease, should be carried out by the authorities through the spraying and optimal treatment of patients, so that the spread and spread of the disease and the subsequent prevention of disease can be prevented.

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Background & aim: Given that an effective vaccine is not available against leishmaniasis, along with the side effects of current drugs and the emergence of resistance to treatment, researchers are seeking more effective, safe and low-cost natural compounds. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the anti-leishmaniasis effect of aqueous and alcoholic extracts of opium with concentration 10% on lesion of Leismania major in BALB/c mice.
 
Methods: In the present study, thirty male BALB/c mice, 6–8 weeks of age were injected subcutaneously in tail-base with Leismania major amastigotes. They were randomly divided into five groups (n=6 per group). Two groups (aqueous and alcoholic extracts of opium with the concentration of 10%) as experimental and three as control (Eucerin ointment, Glucantime and Control, which were infected but not treated). Treatment started when the CL lesions were appeared and continued for 14 days. The diameter of the lesion was measured and the differences in the mean lesion size were assayed by paired t-test, two-way ANOVA and tokay post-hoc tests.
 
Findings: Statistical analysis indicated significant difference (P<0.05) between treated groups in terms of wound diameters. The group treated with glucantime had the smallest wound diameter. The wound sizes of otherwise treated mice with alcoholic and aqueous extracts with concentration 10% and eucerin ointment were smaller than those of control mice without any treatment with statistically significant (P<0.05).
 
Conclusion: The results of the present study indicated that despite of the effect of aqueous and alcoholic extracts of opium on L. major in vivo, the mean wound size of mice infected with Leishmania major was less effective than glucantime. It is suggested that more studies be performed with the above extracts in different concentrations, along with nano carriers and in combination with other plant extracts.
 
 
 

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Background & aim: Cutaneous leishmaniasis or leishmaniasis in Iran is caused by two species of Leishmania parasites including: L. major and L. tropica. In recent years, the disease has been reported in different parts of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province. Due to the huge differences in the type of animal reservoirs and biological carriers, identifying the causative agent can be effective in the necessary planning to control the disease. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to determine the causative species of cutaneous leishmaniasis in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer Ahmad province, Iran, by molecular methods: a retrospective study.
 
Methods: The present cross-sectional and retrospective descriptive study was conducted to determine the species of Leishmania, 52 samples of smears stained with Giemsa dye were collected from different laboratories in the cities of the province between 2013 and 2017 and were examined using light microscope for the presence of Leishman's body. After extracting the DNA present on the surface of slides, using specific primers LINR4 and LIN17, the species of Leishmania parasite was identified by PCR method. The data were analyzed using chi-score statistical test.
 
Results: Out of 52 samples with cutaneous leishmaniasis lesions, 26 (50%) were male and 26 (50%) were female. The mean age of the participants in the study was 23.32 years (with a standard deviation of ±18.42). Out of 52 samples, parasitic amastigotes (Leishman's body) were observed in 36 cases (69.2%) by direct observation using a light microscope and 43 samples (82.7%) were positive for PCR. Infectious species in all residents of Dehdasht and Yasuj were L. major and L. tropica in Gachsaran.
 
Conclusion: the results of the present study indicated that L.major and L.tropica species were the cause of cutaneous leishmaniasis in Dehdasht, Yasuj, and Gachsaran.  Therefore, further studies are suggested to identify vectors and reservoirs of cutaneous leishmaniasis parasites in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province, Iran.
 
 
 

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Background & aim: Cutaneous leishmaniasis is a tropical and treatment-resistant disease which the range of treatment strategies based on effective plant substances has been expanded due to the side effects of standard druge. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to determine and investigate the histopathological changes caused by Leishmania major in BALB/c mice treated with aqueous extract of garlic.

Methods In this experimental study, which was conducted in 2018 at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of Bou Ali Sina University,, 36 female BALB/c mice with an average weight of 30g were equally divided into 6 groups and the standard strain of Leishmania major parasite was injected into 5 groups. Three groups were treated with aqueous garlic extract orally and topically, and three groups were treated as control, without treatment and received Glucantim as drug. The size of the wound in five groups were evaluated weekly, and after the 90-day of treatment, skin tissue around the wound, lymph nodes, spleen, and liver were taken for histopathologic evaluation. The collected data were analyzed using statistical tests of two-way analysis of variance (pvalue ≤ 0.05).

Results: A significant reduction in wound size was observed in the groups receiving the garlic extract orally (p≤0.0001). The structures of the lymphoid organs differed in these two groups in inflammation, granuloma, and lymphocyte populations compared to the control groups and even to the group receiving garlic topical ointment, and the healing process was observed in them, also, wound healing was significantly accelerated in the group receiving oral garlic extract before parasite injection (p≤0.05). Histopathological changes in the group receiving garlic ointment also showed evidence of wound healing, but at the end of the treatment period, it was less effective than the group receiving oral garlic (p≤0.05).

Conclusion: The oral extract of garlic changes the inflammatory reactions in the wound site of cutaneous leishmaniasis towards repair and accelerates the healing process of the wound. Garlic extract compounds can be considered as a natural treatment option in treatment-resistant Leishmania infection.

 

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Introduction: The side effects and resistance to chemical treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis have led to intensive research into the use of herbal compounds for the treatment of this disease. The antimicrobial properties of Carthamus tinctorius and Matricaria chamomilla extract have been investigated on many microorganisms. The aim of this study was to investigate the anti-leishmanial effect of these two plants on the promastigotes of the Leishmania major.
Materials and methods: The standard strain of Leishmania major was obtained from Pasteur Institute of Iran. Ethanol extract of safflower and water-ethanol extract of chamomile were prepared at concentrations of 15, 25, 50, 75, 100 and 200 μg/ml and exposed to promastigotes cultured in 96 plates in triplicate and incubated for 24 hours. Using colorimetric method and tetrazolium reduction, the viability of promastigotes was evaluated by absorbance at 490nm. The inhibitory concentrations(IC) IC10, IC50, IC80 each of the extracts were calculated with Graphpad Prism 8 statistical software.
Findings: Exposure to safflower and chamomile extracts at all concentrations decreased parasite survival(p≤0.05), such that inhibitory concentrations was IC10: 21.10ug/ml, IC50: 3.85ug/ml and IC80 1.31ug/ml for safflower and inhibitory concentrations was IC10: 24.27ug/ml, IC50: 17.69ug/ml, IC80: 14.48ug/ml for chamomile extract. Concentrations of more than 15 μg/ml and more than 25μg/ml had significant anti-leishmanial effects compared to the untreated control (p≤0.05).
Conclusion: The anti-leishmanial effect of safflower extract and chamomile extract on Leishmania major was remarkable at low concentrations and can be investigated as a herbal compound in the in-vivo model of cutaneous leishmaniasis.