Genotypic profiles of Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis strains from cutaneous leishmaniasis patients and their relationship with the response to meglumine antimoniate treatment: a pilot study

• Published in: Parasite (Paris) Vol. 24; p. 34
• Main Authors: Gagini, Thalita, de Oliveira Schubach, Armando, de Fatima Madeira, Maria, Maria Valete-Rosalino, Cláudia, Fernandes Pimentel, Maria Inês, da Silva Pacheco, Raquel
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: France EDP Sciences 2017
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Age Factors; Antiprotozoal Agents - pharmacology; Antiprotozoal Agents - therapeutic use; Brazil; Child; Cluster Analysis; Clusters; Cohort Studies; Cutaneous leishmaniasis; Deoxyribonucleic acid; DNA; DNA, Kinetoplast - genetics; Electrophoresis, Agar Gel; Epidemiology; Female; genetic heterogeneity; Genotype; Genotypes; Humans; Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis; Leishmania braziliensis; Leishmania braziliensis - classification; Leishmania braziliensis - drug effects; Leishmania braziliensis - genetics; Leishmaniasis, Cutaneous - drug therapy; Leishmaniasis, Cutaneous - parasitology; Lesions; LSSP-PCR; Male; Meglumine - pharmacology; Meglumine - therapeutic use; Meglumine antimoniate; Middle Aged; Organometallic Compounds - pharmacology; Organometallic Compounds - therapeutic use; Parasites; Parasitic diseases; Patients; Phenotype; Pilot Projects; Polymerase Chain Reaction; Polymorphism, Genetic; Populations; Similarity; Strains (organisms); Vector-borne diseases; Young Adult; Brazil; Rio de Janeiro Brazil
• ISSN: 1776-1042; 1252-607X; 1776-1042
• DOI: 10.1051/parasite/2017035

Forty-four strains isolated from a cohort of cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) patients who did or did not respond to one course of treatment with meglumine antimoniate were investigated to explore genetic polymorphisms in parasite kinetoplast DNA minicircles. Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis strains isolated from responder (R) and non-responder (NR) patients who acquired infection in Rio de Janeiro or in other Brazilian states were studied using low-stringency single-specific primer polymerase chain reaction (LSSP-PCR) to identify genetic polymorphisms. Polymorphisms were observed in parasites recovered from patient lesions. No association was found between a specific genotype and R or NR patients. Phenetic analysis grouped the genotypes into three main clusters, with similarity indices varying from 0.72 to 1.00. Although no specific genotype association was detected, at least one group of L. (V.) braziliensis genotypes that circulates in Rio de Janeiro was discriminated in clusters I and III, showing phenotypes of good and poor responses to treatment, respectively. Cluster I comprised parasite profiles recovered from R patients from Rio de Janeiro and in cluster III, NR samples were prevalent. Cluster II comprised 24 isolates, with 21 from Rio de Janeiro and three from other states, equally distributed between R and NR patients. Additionally, we found that parasites sharing all common genetic characteristics acted differently in response to treatment. These results are of clinical-epidemiological importance since they demonstrate that populations of L. (V.) braziliensis that exhibit high levels of genetic similarity also display different phenotypes associated with meglumine antimoniate responses in cutaneous leishmaniasis patients.