Further Insights Into The Eco-Epidemiology Of American Cutaneous Leishmaniasis In The Belem Metropolitan Region, Para State, Brazil

Introduction: In the Belem Metropolitan Region (BMR), Para State, Brazil, American cutaneous leishmaniasis (ACL) is endemic; however, very little is known regarding its causative agents. Therefore, we used our standard diagnostic approach combined with an RNA poly merasc II largest subunit (RNAPOHLS)-polymerise chain reaction (PCR) followed by analysis of restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) to identify Leishmania spp. ACL agents in this region Methods: Thirty-two Leishmania spp. isolates from patients with ACL in the BMR during 1995-2018 were analyzed. Leishmania spp. DNA samples were amplified using the primers RPOR2/RPOF2, and the 615-bp PCR products were subjected to enzymatic digestion using TspRJ and IIgal endonucleases. Results: ACL etiological agents in the BMR comprised Leishmania (liannia) lindenbergi (43.7%) followed by Leishmania (Viannia) lainsoni (34.4%), Leishmania (Leishmania) amazonensis (12.5%), and Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis (9.4%). Conclusions: To our knowledge, the results of the study revealed for the first time that L. (V) lindenbergi and L (V) lainsoni are the main ACL agents in BMR.