• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.175-177
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• 2008

Lupoid leishmaniasis is a unique form of cutaneous leishmaniasis characterized by unusual clinical features and a chronic relapsing course, mostly caused by infection with Leishmania tropica. In this clinical form, 1-2 yr after healing of the acute lesion, new papules and nodules appear at the margin of the remaining scar. Herein, we describe a case of this clinical form that was resistant to 2 courses of treatments: systemic glucantime and then a combination therapy with allopurinol and systemic glucantime. However, marked improvement was seen after a combination therapy with topical trichloroacetic acid solution (50%) and systemic glucantime, and there were no signs of recurrence after 1 yr of follow-up.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.54 no.6
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• pp.787-792
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• 2016

Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is a protozoan disease which is endemic in Iran. It is transmitted by the Phlebotomus sand fly. The eyelid is rarely involved possibly because the movement of the lids impedes the sand fly from biting the skin in this region. Here, we report 6 rare cases of eyelid CL. The patients were diagnosed by skin scraping, culture, and PCR from the lesions. Skin scraping examination showed Leishmania spp. amastigotes in the cytoplasm of macrophages. Culture examination was positive for Leishmania spp. PCR was positive for Leishmania major and Leishmania tropica. The lesions were disguised as basal cell carcinoma, chalazion, hordeolum, and impetigo. The patients were treated with intramuscular meglumine antimoniate (20 mg/kg/day) for at least 3 weeks. They showed a dramatic response, and the lesions almost completely disappeared. We emphasized the importance of clinical and diagnostic features of lesions, characterized the phylogenetic relationship of isolated parasites, and reviewed the literature on ocular leishmaniasis.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.44 no.4 s.140
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• pp.355-360
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• 2006

Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL), due to Leishmania major, is endemic in different parts of Iran and has long been recognized in most provinces of Iran. This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of childhood leishmaniasis in 3 areas at the southeast of Kashan, A descriptive study was carried out on all children referred to central laboratories during a 3-year period. Initial information including age, sex, sites of ulcer on the body, number of lesions, address, and the place of the disease was obtained. The study gathered 117 children, and the results showed a prevalence of 7.2% in patients with lesions among the population and 4.2% of people displayed lesion and scar. The ages of subjects were from 6 to 15 years (average 9.75 years). The boy: girl ratio was 1.2. All of our patients lived in an endemic area. The face was affected in 47.0% of cases. The encountered forms of leishmaniasis are as follows: papulonodular 27.4%, ulcer 60.7%, sporotrichoid 6%, impetiginous 2.5%, and erysipeloid 3.4%. Treatment with intramuscular meglumine antimoniate 20-30 mg/kg/day was done for 93 patients. Meglumine antimoniate treatment was tolerated with no side effects. All leishmaniasis lesions healed within an average period of 2-14 months. Hyperpigmented scars were formed in 25.6% of the patients, atrophic scars in 4.3%, and hypopigmented scars were in 3.4%, respectively The findings of this study indicate increased prevalence of CL in the villages at the area of Kashan and Aran-Bidgol. The clinical finding patterns belonged to different endemic strains of L. major in Isfahan, which indicates the possible transmission of infection from Isfahan to this area.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.255-266
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• 2007

The protective effect of the Synadenium carinatum latex lectin (ScLL), and the possibility of using it as an adjuvant in murine model of vaccination against American cutaneous leishmaniasis, were evaluated. BALB/c mice were immunized with the lectin ScLL (10, 50, 100$[\mu}g$/animal) separately or in association with the soluble Leishmania amazonensis antigen (SLA). After a challenge infection with $10^6$ promastigotes, the injury progression was monitored weekly by measuring the footpad swelling for 10 weeks. ScLL appeared to be capable of conferring partial protection to the animals, being most evident when ScLL was used in concentrations of 50 and 100${\mu}g$/animal. Also the parasite load in the interior of macrophages showed significant reduction (61.7%) when compared to the control group. With regard to the cellular response, ScLL 50 and 100 ${\mu}g$/animal stimulated the delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) reaction significantly (P < 0.05) higher than SLA or SLA plus ScLL 10 weeks after the challenge infection. The detection of high levels of IgG2a and the expression of mRNA cytokines, such as IFN-$\gamma$, IL-12, and TNF-$\alpha$ (Th1 profiles), corroborated the protective role of this lectin against cutaneous leishmaniasis. This is the first report of the ScLL effect on leishmaniasis and shows a promising role for ScLL to be explored in other experimental models for treatment of leishmaniasis.

• Journal of Korea Association of Health Promotion
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.77-83
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• 2004

Recently, peoples of travelling to endemic area of parasitit diseases are rapidly increased and the imported parasitic diseases by tourists have become a public health problem. Here author describess briefly about the imported parasitic in Korea. The 15 kinds of parasitic diseases, I.e., malaria, babesiosis, cutaneous leishmaniasis, visceral leishmaniasis, ancylostomiasis, cutaneous larva migrans, angiostrongylosis, gnathostomiasis,loiasis, heterophyiasis, urinary schistosomiasis, hydatis disease, pentastomiasis, cutaneous myiasis and syngamosis were imported during last thirty years. The most prevalent imported parasitic disease was malaria. Indigenous vivax malaria has been eradicated since 1970s. However imported malaria(1970~1985) was reported 107 cases of patient with a history of travel abroad. Futhermore a case of reemerging vivax malaria was patient were occurred in 2000.These parasitic disease are sometimes overlooked or misdiagnosed. There is a need to concern about travel medicine and imported parasitic diseases.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.247-253
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• 2007

Leishmania (L.) tropica is a causative agent of cutaneous leishmaniasis, and occasionally of visceral or viscerotropic leishmaniasis in humans. Murine models of Leishmania infection have been proven to be useful for elucidation of mechanisms for pathogenesis and immunity in leishmaniasis. The aim of this study was to establish a murine model for human viscerotropic leishmaniasis, and the growth pattern of L. tropica was studied in different tissues of BALB/c mice in order to find out whether the parasite visceralizes in this murine model. L. major was used as a control as this species is known to cause a progressive infection in BALB/c mice. L. tropica or L. major was injected into the footpad of mice, and thickness of footpad, parasite loads in different tissues, and the weight of the spleen and lymph node were determined at different intervals. Results showed that L. tropica visceralizes to the spleen and grows there while its growth is controlled in footpad tissues. Dissemination of L. tropica to visceral organs in BALB/c mice was similar to the growth patterns of this parasite in human viscerotropic leishmaniasis. The BALB/c model of L. tropica infection may be considered as a good experimental model for human diseases.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.58 no.3
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• pp.229-236
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• 2020

Cutaneous leishmaniosis (CL) is the most common form of leishmaniasis.CL caused by L. major and L. tropica is endemic in 17 provinces of Iran. This study was carried out to elucidate situation of CL in Ardabil province and to predict distribution of Phlebotomus papatasi and Phlebotomus sergenti (Diptera: Psychodidae) as vectors of CL in the region. In this cross-sectional study, data on CL patients were collected from local health centers of Ardabil province, Iran during 2006-2018 to establish a geodatabase using ArcGIS10.3. A total of 20 CL cases were selected randomly and skin samples were collected and analyzed by PCR method. MaxEnt 3.3.3 model was used to determine ecologically suitable niches for the main vectors. A total, 309 CL human cases were reported and the highest incidence rate of disease was occurred in Bilasavar (37/100,000) and Germi (35/100,000). A total of 2,794 sand flies were collected during May to October 2018. The environmentally suitable habitats for P. papatasi and P. sergenti were predicted to be present in northern and central areas of Ardabil province. The most variable that contributed ratio in the modeling were Isothermality and slope factors. Ardabil province is possibly an endemic are for CL. The presence of P. papatasi and P. sergenti justifies local transmission while the vectors of CL are existing in the northern and central areas of the province.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.191-193
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• 2008

Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is a parasitic disease characterized by single or multiple ulcerations. Secondary bacterial infections are one of the complications that can increase the tissue destruction and the resulting scar. To better determine the incidence of real secondary bacterial infections in CL, we designed the current study. This was a cross-sectional study performed in Skin Diseases and Leishmaniasis Research Centre, Isfahan, Iran. A total of 1,255 patients with confirmed CL enrolled in the study. Sterile swaps were achieved for ulcer exudates and scraping was used for non-ulcerated lesions. All samples were transferred to tryptic soy broth medium. After 24 hr of incubation at $37^{\circ}C$ they were transferred to eosin methylene blue agar (EMB) and blood agar. Laboratory tests were used to determine the species of bacteria. Among 1,255 confirmed CL patients, 274 (21.8%) had positive cultures for secondary bacterial infections. The bacteria isolated from the lesions were Staphylococcus aureus in 190 cases (69.3%), coagulase negative Staphylococcus in 63 cases (23.0%), E. coli in 10 cases (3.6%), Proteus sp. in 6 cases (2.2%), and Klebsiella sp. in 5 cases (1.9%). The results show that the overall incidence of secondary bacterial infections in the lesions of CL was 21.8%, considerably high. The incidence of secondary bacterial infections was significantly higher in ulcerated lesions compared with non-ulcerated lesions.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.60 no.6
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• pp.379-391
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• 2022

Leishmaniasis is a serious parasitic disease caused by Leishmania spp. transmitted through sandfly bites. This disease is a major public health concern worldwide. It can occur in 3 different clinical forms: cutaneous, mucocutaneous, and visceral leishmaniasis (CL, MCL, and VL, respectively), caused by different Leishmania spp. Currently, licensed vaccines are unavailable for the treatment of human leishmaniasis. The treatment and prevention of this disease rely mainly on chemotherapeutics, which are highly toxic and have an increasing resistance problem. The development of a safe, effective, and affordable vaccine for all forms of vector-borne disease is urgently needed to block transmission of the parasite between the host and vector. Immunological mechanisms in the pathogenesis of leishmaniasis are complex. IL-12-driven Th1-type immune response plays a crucial role in host protection. The essential purpose of vaccination is to establish a protective immune response. To date, numerous vaccine studies have been conducted using live/attenuated/killed parasites, fractionated parasites, subunits, recombinant or DNA technology, delivery systems, and chimeric peptides. Most of these studies were limited to animals. In addition, standardization has not been achieved in these studies due to the differences in the virulence dynamics of the Leishmania spp. and the feasibility of the adjuvants. More studies are needed to develop a safe and effective vaccine, which is the most promising approach against Leishmania infection.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.55 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2017

Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) caused by Leishmania donovani is an endemic vector-borne disease in Sri Lanka. Over 2,500 cases have been reported since 2000 and the number of CL cases has dramatically increased annually. Total 57 clinically suspected CL patients attending the dermatology clinic in Anuradhapura Teaching Hospital were recruited from January to June 2015. Slit skin smears and skin biopsies were taken from each of the subjects. Clinical and epidemiological data were obtained using interviewer administered questionnaire. Forty-three (75.4%) patients among 57 were confirmed positive for L. donovani. The majority (77%) of infected patients was males, and the most affected age group was 21-40 years. Soldiers in security forces, farmers, and housewives were identified as high risk groups. The presence of scrub jungles around the residence or places of occupation (P=0.003), the presence of sandflies (P=0.021), and working outsides more than 6 hr per day (P=0.001) were significantly associated with CL. The number of lesions ranged from 1-3, and the majority (76%) of the patients had a single lesion. Upper and lower extremities were the prominent places of lesions, while the wet type of lesions were more prevalent in females (P=0.022). A nodular-ulcerative type lesion was common in both sexes. The presence of sandflies, scrub jungles, and outdoor activities contributed to spread of Leishmania parasites in an endemic pattern. Implementation of vector control programs together with health education with regard to transmission and prevention of CL are necessary to control the spread of this infection.