Identification of Leishmania Species Using PCR Assay on Giemsa-Stained Slides Prepared From Cutaneous Leishmaniasis Patients

BACKGROUND: Leishmaniasis is a group of diseases that are created by intracellular parasites of Leishmania. Cutaneous leishmaniasis is considered as one of the health problems in some provinces of Iran. METHODS: In this study, a total of 178 Giemsa-stained slides from confirmed cases of cutaneous leishmaniasis were examined. The slides were prepared from the patients with cutaneous leishmaniasis that referred to health centers and infected during the epidemic of cutaneous leishmaniasis in Poldokhtar city, Lorestan Province, Iran in 2006.Genomic DNA from each slide was extracted. After DNA extraction, ITS-PCR was used. RESULTS: Out of 178 slides, 129 (72.47%) samples had a band in the range of 485 bp and 49 (27.53%) samples 626 bp that matched L. tropica and L. major standard samples, respectively. CONCLUSION: This study showed that Leishmania DNA could be efficiently extracted and amplified even from old Giemsa-stained microscopic slides that were stored more than 6 yr. In this study was shown that both L. tropica and L. major species exist in Lorestan Province.