Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis is the predominant species infecting patients with American cutaneous leishmaniasis in the State of Minas Gerais, Southeast Brazil

Skin biopsies from 53 patients with American cutaneous leishmaniasis (ACL) from the State of Minas Gerais, Brazil, were used for a characterization of the Leishmania parasites. A pair of primers flanking the conserved region of the Leishmania minicircle kDNA was used to obtain amplified DNA via the polymerase chain reaction. The amplified products were subsequently hybridi zed with Leishmania subgenus-specific radiolabeled probes. Parasites from 4 9 out of 53 samples (92.5%) were characterized as belonging to the subgenus Viannia and four (7.5%) as belonging to the subgenus Leishmania. Clinical, epidemiological and molecular evidence allow us to conclude that Leishmani a (V.) braziliensis and Leishmania (L.) amazonensis are the species present in the patients studied and that L. (V.) braziliensis is the predominant s pecies in the State of Minas Gerais, Brazil. (C) 1999 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.