Clinical and immunological features of human Leishmania (L.) infantum-Infection, novel insights Honduras, Central America

• Autor(a) principal: Sosa-Ochoa, Wilfredo
• Data de Publicação: 2020
• Outros Autores: Valeriano, Concepción Zúniga, Chaves, Luis Fernando, Flores, Gabriela Venicia Araújo, Pacheco, Carmen Maria Sandoval, Matta, Vania Lúcia Ribeiro da, Corbett, Carlos Eduardo Pereira, Silveira, Fernando Tobias, Laurenti, Márcia Dalastra
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Digital do Instituto Evandro Chagas (Patuá)
• Texto Completo: https://patua.iec.gov.br/handle/iec/4118
• topic: Leishmaniose Visceral / parasitologia; Leishmania infantum / parasitologia; Estudos Transversais; Perfil de Saúde; Honduras (HON)

Leishmania (Leishmania) infantum is the etiological agent of both American visceral leishmaniasis (AVL) and non-ulcerated cutaneous leishmaniasis (NUCL) in Honduras. Although AVL is the most severe clinical form of infection, recent studies have shown that human immune response to parasite infection can result in a clinical immunological spectrum. The overall prevalence rate of infection and clinical-immunological profiles of the L. (L.) infantum infection in Amapala municipality, South Honduras was determined. We examined 576 individuals with diagnosis based on combined ELISA (IgG/IgM) and DTH assays. We also used genus-specific kDNA PCR and Hsp70 PCR-RFLP for NUCL cases. Clinical evaluation found 82% asymptomatic and 18% symptomatic individuals. All symptomatic cases (n = 104) showing NUCL were positive for parasites. We identified L. (L.) infantum species in 100% of the skin lesion scrapings and in 90% of the blood samples from NUCL cases studied. A total of 320 asymptomatic individuals were exposed (ELISA+ and/or DTH+), providing an overall L. (L.) infantum prevalence of 73.6%. Clinical, parasitological, and immunological evaluations suggest seven infection profiles, three asymptomatic and four symptomatic. This represents the first report on clinical and immunological features of human L. (L.) infantum-infection in Amapala municipality, Honduras.