Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Nov 25;20(1):885.
doi: 10.1186/s12879-020-05622-2.

Frequency of Leishmania spp. infection among HIV-infected patients living in an urban area in Brazil: a cross-sectional study

M A Cunha  1   2 , B J Celeste  3 , N Kesper  4 , M Fugimori  3 , M M Lago  5 , A S Ibanes  5 , L M Ouki  5 , E A Simões Neto  6 , F F Fonseca  7 , M A L Silva  8 , W L Barbosa Júnior  8 , J A L Lindoso  9   4   5
Affiliations

Frequency of Leishmania spp. infection among HIV-infected patients living in an urban area in Brazil: a cross-sectional study

M A Cunha et al. BMC Infect Dis. .

Abstract

Background: There is little information about the frequency of Leishmania infection in asymptomatic people living with HIV (PLWH) and about the performance of laboratory diagnostic methods in coinfected patients in Latin America. The main objective of this study is to evaluate the frequency of Leishmania spp. infection in HIV-infected patients living in an urban area in Brazil.

Methods: To detect Leishmania infection, diagnostic tests were performed to detect anti-Leishmania antibodies (ELISA using Leptomonas seymouri antigens; ELISA using rK39 antigens; ELISA using rK28 antigens; indirect fluorescent-antibody test (IFAT); direct agglutination test (DAT)) and Leishmania DNA (polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with the target genes kDNA and ITS-1).

Results: The frequency of at least one positive test was 15%. For ELISA using Leptomonas antigens and IFAT, there was an association between CD4+ T lymphocyte counts and test positivity, with a higher positivity of these tests in more immunosuppressed patients (CD4+ T cell count < 200/mm3).

Conclusions: According to our data, there was a high prevalence of Leishmania spp. infections in this population living with HIV. Although there is the possibility of cross-reaction, some tests that are considered highly specific for the diagnosis of Leishmania infection were positive. There was also an association between the positivity of some tests studied and lower values of CD4+ T lymphocytes.

Keywords: Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome; Diagnosis; Leishmaniasis; Prevalence.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

References

    1. WHO: World Health Organization . Expert Committee on the Control of the Leishmaniases & World Health Organization. Control of the leishmaniases: report of a meeting of the WHO Expert Commitee on the Control of Leishmaniases. 2010.
    1. Alvar J, Vélez ID, Bern C, Herrero M, Desjeux P, Cano J, Jannin J, Boer MD, the WHOLCT Leishmaniasis worldwide and global estimates of its incidence. PLoS One. 2012;7(5):e35671. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0035671. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Werneck GL. Visceral leishmaniasis in Brazil: rationale and concerns related to reservoir control. J Rev Saude Publica. 2014;48:851–856. doi: 10.1590/S0034-8910.2014048005615. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Jarvis JN, Lockwood DN. Clinical aspects of visceral leishmaniasis in HIV infection. Curr Opin Infect Dis. 2013;26(1):1–9. doi: 10.1097/QCO.0b013e32835c2198. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Alvar J, Canavate C, Gutierrez-Solar B, Jimenez M, Laguna F, Lopez-Velez R, Molina R, Moreno J. Leishmania and human immunodeficiency virus coinfection: the first 10 years. Clin Microbiol Rev. 1997;10(2):298–319. doi: 10.1128/CMR.10.2.298. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

MeSH terms

Substances