Cutaneous leishmaniasis at Wasit governorate

The study included identification of Leishmania parasites from cases of cutaneous leishmaniasis, by examination of smears for LD bodies , isolation of parasites by culture in media , and characterisation of the isolated parasites by Isoenzyme analysis.Out of 100 cases suspected for cutaneous leishmaniasis ; 85 were diagnosed on culture for Leishmania promastigotes and this method was found to be superior to direct microscopy for amastgotes (LD bodies) .The cases included in this study belonged to different areas of Wasit/Iraq. There were 30 cases from Hay, 35 from Badra, and 35 cases from Suwaira.The distribution of infection in different age groups indicated that majority of cases belonged to young and middle aged adults. The infection was detected in both sexes with a predominance in males. The clinical picture of cutaneous lesions was suggessive of both wet and dry types of lesions

Biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles by Leishmania tropica

Biosynthesis and characterizations of nanoparticles have become an important branch of nanotechnology. A novel biosynthesis route for Silver Nanoparticles (Ag-NPs) was attempted in the present study using Leishmania tropica the causative agent of cutaneous leishmaniasis in different countries, particularly in Mediterranean region in Iraq. Silver nanoparticles were successfully synthesized from AgNO3 by reduction of aqueous Ag+ ions with the cell of L. tropica. AgNPs were irregular spherical in shape and the average particle size was about 35±5 nm characterized by means of UV–vis absorption spectroscopy and scanninng electron microscopy (SEM) images. The efficiency of L. tropica for synthesis of silver nanoparticles was found to be higher; also this method was cost effective and easily scaled up for large scale synthesis.Keywords: Leishmania tropica, biosynthesis, silver, nanoparticles

CL Comparative Study between Classical and Molecular Methods in Diagnosis of Leishmania Species in Iraq

Background and Objective: Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) remains a serious public health concern in some parts of Iraq. The aims of this study to diagnose the Leishmania sp. causative agent of CL in some parts of Iraq, by different parasitological, cultural, and molecular methods. It was carried during the period  October  2014 to  February 2015. Materials and Methods: One hundred-sixty one of skin samples were examined by direct Giemsa-smeared, culture on NNN medium and Nested – PCR methods in different age groups. Results: The results of our study showed that  110 (68.3%) gave positives by Giemsa-smeared, 104 (64.6%) by culture and 67 (100%) by Nested – PCR. Our results appeared that there was slight gender predilection ; CL cases were more frequent in males (62.1%) than females (37.9%). Also, the type of infection showed that disease was in wet type 133(82.6%) more than in dry type 28 (17.4%). It was found that 98 (60.9%) of CL cases were in contact with rodents while  63(39.1%) of cases were not.      Conclusions: CL disease is endemic in many parts of Iraq with high incidence and expanding to new foci that is considered a public health threat which needs special attention

Epidemiological Study of Cutaneous Leishmaniasis in Some Iraqi Provinces

Background: Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) remains a serious public health concern in some parts of Iraq. The aims of this study to report of CL in some parts of Iraq, by different parasitological, cultural, and molecular methods and evaluate sex differences among infected patients. This is the first study conducted  to characterize Leishmania species causing CL among Iraqi patients using the sequence analysis of Internal Transcribed Spacer1 (ITS1).   Methods: A total of 700 cases of suspected CL who were referred to the Iraqi's clinics  and health centers and they checked for Leishmania amastigote using Giemsa-stained , however the NovyMacneal Nicolle (NNN) culture led to the growth of promastigotes in all samples, then the samples were examined using PCR and RFLP-PCR methods. Results: The present study indicated that the prevalence of CL in eight Iraqi provinces as follow: Diwaniya 88(15.1%) , Wasit 85(14.5%),Najaf 79(13.6%), Thi-Qar 76(13.1%), Basrah 67(11.5%), Baghdad 65(11.2%), Diyala 63(10.8%) and Salah-Adin province which recorded the lower infection 60(10.3%), and it appeared 83.3% by using Giemsa-smeared in eight Iraqi provinces. The highest infection (100 %) appeared using PCR while the lowest infection (68%) appeared by culture on NNN media. The present study was revealed that the highest infection (60 %) caused by L.major than L.tropica (40 %) . Our results showed that 368 (52.6 %) of CL patients were had single lesion and 215 (30.7 %) had multiple lesions, and the ulcerative wet type lesions were present in 49.6% , while the nodule dry type lesions were present in 33.7 %. The overall prevalence of cutaneous leishmaniasis in the study area was very high (83.3%) having a statistical significant association with sex; males are more prone (56.4%) to Cutaneous Leishmaniasis (CL) as compared to females(43.6%). Conclusions: A clear and reliable bias toward males exists in some tropical diseases, such as leishmaniasis. Cutaneous leishmaniasis is a major health problem in Iraq and CL caused by many countries including Iraq. Health authorities should be aware of the fact that war and terrorist activities induce expansion of the disease and increase incidence rate in the situation that access to medical treatment is not easy especially in poor conditions of leishmaniasis endemic areas