Leishmania aethiopica: Development of specific and sensitive PCR diagnostic test

PCR has proved useful for rapid diagnosis and typing of Leishmania. Lack of specificity to discriminate between species and/or sensitivity to detect from clinical samples has always been an issue. Previously developed primers either require PCR RFLP analysis for Leishmania aethiopica discrimination or lack sensitivity to detect L aethiopica from clinical samples. Here we report the development and validation oft. aethiopica specific PCR primers (V5F/V10R) based on cysteine protease B (cpb), a multicopy and polymorphic gene of Leishmania. V5F/V10R primers differentiate L aethiopica from Leishmania tropica. Leishmania major, Leishmania donovani and Leishmania infantum by direct PCR. In addition, they are sensitive enough to detect L aethiopica from biopsy samples. The primers can be very useful for epidemiological studies, species typing and diagnosis of L aethiopica directly from clinical samples. Implementation of these primers in routine L aethiopica diagnosis can improve detection rate, save time, money and labor required for culturing Leishmania. (C) 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.