In Vitro Drug Susceptibility of a Leishmania (Leishmania) infantum Isolate from a Visceral Leishmaniasis Pediatric Patient after Multiple Relapses

Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease

article

Bianca A. Ferreira¹  Gustavo de A. Santos²  Elizabeth M. Coser¹  Juliana M. Sousa²  Mônica E. A. Gama³  Leônidas L. B. Júnior⁴  Fabrício S. Pessoa⁴  Mayara I. S. Lima²  Silvia R. B. Uliana⁶  Adriano C. Coelho¹ 

[1] Departamento de Biologia Animal, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas;Departamento de Biologia, Centro de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde, Universidade Federal do Maranhão;Programa de Pós-Graduação em Saúde e Ambiente, Centro de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde, Universidade Federal do Maranhão;Departamento de Medicina, Centro de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde, Universidade Federal do Maranhão;Hospital Universitário, Universidade Federal do Maranhão;Departamento de Parasitologia, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas, Universidade de São Paulo

关键词: Leishmania (Leishmania) infantum;    visceral leishmaniasis;    drug susceptibility;   

DOI  :  10.3390/tropicalmed8070354

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

The parasitic protozoan Leishmania (Leishmania) infantum is the etiological agent of human visceral leishmaniasis in South America, an infectious disease associated with malnutrition, anemia, and hepatosplenomegaly. In Brazil alone, around 2700 cases are reported each year. Treatment failure can occur as a result of drug, host, and/or parasite-related factors. Here, we isolated a Leishmania species from a pediatric patient with visceral leishmaniasis that did not respond to chemotherapy, experiencing a total of nine therapeutic relapses and undergoing a splenectomy. The parasite was confirmed as L. (L.) infantum after sequencing of the ribosomal DNA internal transcribed spacer, and the clinical isolate, in both promastigote and amastigote forms, was submitted to in vitro susceptibility assays with all the drugs currently used in the chemotherapy of leishmaniasis. The isolate was susceptible to meglumine antimoniate, amphotericin B, pentamidine, miltefosine, and paromomycin, similarly to another strain of this species that had previously been characterized. These findings indicate that the multiples relapses observed in this pediatric patient were not due to a decrease in the drug susceptibility of this isolate; therefore, immunophysiological aspects of the patient should be further investigated to understand the basis of treatment failure in this case.

【 授权许可】

CC BY