Diagnostic tests for American tegumentary leishmaniasis were performed on blood samples of patients living in two endemic municipalities in the state of Pernambuco, Northeastern Brazil. DNA was extracted from 119 samples and used as template for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis. The tests used primers specific for the kinetoplast mini-circle DNA (kDNA) of Leishmania braziliensis, a species circulating in Pernambuco, which amplify a 750 base pair target sequence. In total, 58 subjects (48.7%) showed positive PCR amplification and 61 (51.3%) were negative. Of the PCR-positive samples, 37 (≅64%) were from treated, lesion-free subjects. In conclusion, the PCR technique is efficacious at identifying Leishmania DNA in biopsy and venous blood samples.
Leishmaniasis; Leishmaniasis; Leishmania braziliensis; Leishmania braziliensis; Polymerase Chain Reaction; Molecular Diagnostic Techniques; Sensitivity and Specificity
