Differentiation of three species of Leishmania major, L. tropica and L. infantum by PCR-RFLP technique

The Leishmaniasis is a zoonosis disease with a global spread that occurs in two, cutaneous and visceral forms. In Iran, three species of Leishmania tropica, Leishmania major, and Leishmania infantum has been reported from different regions of the country. Nowadays, molecular methods are usually used for the diagnosis and identification of parasite species. Amplification of the ITS1 gene can also be used to differentiate symptomatic and asymptomatic visceral leishmaniasis as well as types of cutaneous leishmaniasis.

The main aim of our research was to diagnose and identify the common Leishmania species in Iran through ITS1 gene amplification and using the PCR-RFLP method.

First, L. major, L. tropica, and L. infantum parasites were proliferated in an RPMI culture medium, and DNA was extracted from these species separately then ITS1 gene of the parasite was amplified using the PCR-RFLP method.

The result of PCR-RFLP after enzymatic cutting indicated, L. tropica produced 4 fragments of 139, 76, 56, 20 bp bands; L. major showed two fragments of 165, 139 bp bands and L. infantum produced three fragments of 141, 91, 54 bp bands.

The results of the present study showed that the use of ITS1 gene and HaeIII enzyme in the PCR-RFLP method is efficient for identifying L. tropica, L. major, and L. infantum.