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. 2024 Jul 25;230(1):183-187.
doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiae219.

Spliced-Leader RNA as a Dynamic Marker for Monitoring Viable Leishmania Parasites During and After Treatment

Rik Hendrickx  1 , Roma Melkamu  2 , Dagimawie Tadesse  3 , Tedla Teferi  4 , Pim-Bart Feijens  1 , Margot Vleminckx  1 , Saskia van Henten  5 , Fabiana Alves  6 , Tamiru Shibru  3 , Johan van Griensven  5 , Guy Caljon  1 , Myrthe Pareyn  5
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Spliced-Leader RNA as a Dynamic Marker for Monitoring Viable Leishmania Parasites During and After Treatment

Rik Hendrickx et al. J Infect Dis. .

Abstract

Accurate detection of viable Leishmania parasites is critical for evaluating visceral leishmaniasis (VL) treatment response at an early timepoint. We compared the decay of kinetoplast DNA (kDNA) and spliced-leader RNA (SL-RNA) in vitro, in vivo, and in a VL patient cohort. An optimized combination of blood preservation and nucleic acid extraction improved efficiency for both targets. SL-RNA degraded more rapidly during treatment than kDNA, and correlated better with microscopic examination. SL-RNA quantitative polymerase chain reaction emerges as a superior method for dynamic monitoring of viable Leishmania parasites. It enables individualized treatment monitoring for improved prognoses and has potential as an early surrogate endpoint in clinical trials.

Keywords: PCR; diagnostics; leishmaniasis; surrogate marker; treatment response.

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Conflict of interest statement

Potential conflicts of interest. All authors: No reported conflicts. All authors have submitted the ICMJE Form for Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest. Conflicts that the editors consider relevant to the content of the manuscript have been disclosed.

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