RESPONSE TO HETEROLOGOUS LEISHMANINS IN CUTANEOUS LEISHMANIASIS IN NIGERIA - DISCOVERY OF A NEW FOCUS

A pilot study was undertaken to preliminary illustrate the leishmanin skin test (LST) positivity to distinct antigen preparations (derived f rom promastigote of either-Leishmania major or L. amazonensis, or pool ed L. mexicana, L. amazonensis and L. guyanensis) in cutaneous leishma niasis (CL) patients and healthy subjects living in two endemic foci i n Nigeria. The study was designed to provide insights into whether cro ss-species leishmanin, such as that prepared from New World Leishmania could be useful to detect cases of Old World leishmanial infection an d to compare the results with LST using L. major-derived leishmanin. T he overall LST positivity in individuals from Keana tested with the cr oss-species leishmanin was 28.7% (27/94), while the positivity rate in the subjects from Kanana tested with the same leishmanin was 54.5% (6 /11). Lower positivity values were obtained when L. major (12.5%; 11/8 8) or L. amazonensis (15.8%; 9/57) was tested as antigen in grossly co mparable populations. Moreover; the pooled leishmanin identified most of the subjects (13/14; 92.9%) with active or healed CL, and the maxim um reaction sizes were found among positive subjects in this group. No healthy controls (10 total) showed specific DTH response. The LST was useful for assessing the prevalence of subclinical infection and for measuring CL transmission over time. We report for the first time the occurrence of CL in Kanana village of Langtang South local government area of Plateau State.