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
Meta-Analysis
. 2022 Jun 8;16(6):e0010427.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0010427. eCollection 2022 Jun.

Prevalence of Leishmania RNA virus in Leishmania parasites in patients with tegumentary leishmaniasis: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Endalew Yizengaw Shita  1   2 , Endalkachew Nibret Semegn  2   3 , Gizachew Yismaw Wubetu  4 , Abaineh Munshea Abitew  2   3 , Bizuayehu Gashaw Andualem  3 , Mekuanint Geta Alemneh  5   6
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

Prevalence of Leishmania RNA virus in Leishmania parasites in patients with tegumentary leishmaniasis: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Endalew Yizengaw Shita et al. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. .

Abstract

Background: Cutaneous leishmaniasis is caused by different protozoan parasites of the genus Leishmania. Leishmania RNA virus (LRV) was identified as the first Leishmania infecting virus in 1998. Different studies showed the presence and role of the LRV in Leishmania parasites causing cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL). However, there is limited data on the pooled prevalence of LRV in Leishmania parasites causing CL. Therefore, the aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to determine the pooled prevalence of LRV in Leishmania parasite isolates and/or lesion biopsies in patients with CL from the available literature globally.

Methodology: We retrieved the studies from different electronic databases. The studies were screened and identified based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria. We excluded studies exclusively done in experimental animals and in vitro studies. The review was conducted in line with PRISMA guidelines. The meta-analysis was performed with Stata software version 14 with metan command. The forest plot with random-effect model was used to estimate the pooled prevalence with 95% confidence interval. Inverse variance index (I2) was used to assess the heterogeneity among the included articles.

Principal findings: A total of 1215 samples from 25 studies were included. Of these, 40.1% (487/1215) were positive for LRV. The overall pooled prevalence of LRV globally was 37.22% (95% CI: 27.54% - 46.90%). The pooled prevalence of LRV in the New World (NW) and Old World (OW) regions was 34.18% and 45.77%, respectively. Leishmania guyanensis, L. braziliensis, L. major, and L. tropica were the most studied species for the detection of LRV. The prevalence of LRV from Leishmania isolates and lesion biopsies was 42.9% (349/813) and 34.3% (138/402), respectively.

Conclusion: This systematic study revealed that there is high prevalence of LRV in Leishmania parasites isolated from patients with CL. More comprehensive studies would be required to investigate the presence of the LRV in other Leishmania species such as L. aethiopica to fully understand the role of LRV in different clinical manifestations and disease pathology presented in CL patients.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. PRISMA flow diagram describing the strategy for article selection for the prevalence of LRV in Leishmania parasites in patients with cutaneous leishmaniasis, 2021.
Fig 2
Fig 2. Forest plot diagram of included studies depicting the pooled and weighted prevalence of LRV in Leishmania isolates and/or lesions from CL patients, 2021.
Fig 3
Fig 3. Egger’s funnel plot indicates absence of publication bias across the included studies, 2021.
Fig 4
Fig 4. Forest plot showing the pooled LRV prevalence estimate by detection method in Leishmania parasites and/or lesions of patients with CL, 2021.
Fig 5
Fig 5. Forest plot showing the pooled LRV prevalence estimate by geographical region in Leishmania parasites and/or lesions of patients with cutaneous leishmaniasis, 2021.
Fig 6
Fig 6. Forest plot showing the pooled LRV prevalence estimate in different Leishmania species from patients with cutaneous leishmaniasis, 2021.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Steverding D. The history of leishmaniasis. Parasites & Vectors. 2017; 10 (82): 1–10. doi: 10.1186/s13071-017-2028-5 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Kupfer B, Vehreschild J, Cornely O, Kaiser R, Plum G, Viazov S, et al.. Leishmaniasis in Ancient Egypt and Upper Nubia. Emerging Infectious Diseases. 2006; 12(10):1616. doi: 10.3201/eid1210.060169 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. WHO, 2021, Leishmaniases. WHO. 2021:1–6 https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/leishmaniasis.
    1. Alvar J, Ve´ lez ID, Bern C, Herrero M, Desjeux P, Cano J, et al.. Leishmaniasis worldwide and global estimates of its incidence. PLoS One. 2012; 7(5):1–12. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Control of the leishmaniases. WHO Technical report. 2010:16–202. - PubMed