Genetic variability within the species Leishmania aethiopica does not correlate with clinical variations of cutaneous leishmaniasis

Leishmania aethiopica infections in man result in a spectrum of diseases fr om LCL to DCL. These clinical manifestations have been attributed to geneti c differences within the host or the parasites. In this study two different PCR-based methods were used to elucidate genetic variation within the spec ies L. aethiopica. Inter- and intra-specific variations were detected in th e ITS of the ribosomal operon in different strains and species of Leishmani a, using a PCR-RFLP approach, and by a PCR fingerprinting technique that us ed single non-specific primers to amplify polymorphic regions of the genomi c DNA. Both methods revealed genetic heterogeneity among ten L. aethiopica isolates examined. Unrooted distance trees separated the ten strains into t wo different genetic groups. This subdivision was correlated to the geograp hical origin of the isolates rather than to the clinical manifestation of t he disease. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.