Genetic diversity of Leishmania donovani isolates from cutaneous lesions of military personnel in the Mullaitivu and Kilinochchi districts of the Northern Province, Sri Lanka

Tharaka Wijerathna; Nayana Gunathilaka; Saveen Semege; Nishantha Pathirana; Wasana Rodrigo; Deepika Fernando

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Genetic diversity of Leishmania donovani isolates from cutaneous lesions of military personnel in the Mullaitivu and Kilinochchi districts of the Northern Province, Sri Lanka

Author: Tharaka WIJERATHNA ¹ ; Nayana GUNATHILAKA ¹ ; Saveen SEMEGE ² ; Nishantha PATHIRANA ³ ; Wasana RODRIGO ⁴ ; Deepika FERNANDO ⁵
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1. Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya
2. Directorate of Army Preventive Medicine & Mental Health Services, Army Headquarters
3. Sri Lanka Army Hospital
4. Department of Zoology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Open University of Sri Lanka
5. Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo
Publication Type:Journal Article
Keywords: Kilinochchi; Leishmaniasis; Mullaitivu; Northern Province; Phylogenetics; Sri Lanka
From: Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Medicine 2022;15(9):418-424
CountryChina
Language:Chinese
Abstract: Objective: To compare the DNA sequences of Leishmania (L.)donovani isolated from individuals in two districts of the Northern Province with other parts of Sri Lanka and neighboring countries. Methods: Samples were collected from military personnel at the Army Hospital, Narahenpita, Sri Lanka from November 2018 to March 2020. A portion of the samples was fixed, stained with Giemsa and observed under the light microscope. The genomic The DNA was extracted from the remaining portion of the samples using DNEasy blood tissue kit (Qiagen, Germany) and amplified using Leishmania genus-specific primers for molecular diagnosis initially. DNA was amplified using L. donovani species-specific primers by PCR and the amplified product was sequenced for comparison of nucleotide sequences. Results: Out of 76 suspected patients, at least one biological sample of 45 (59.2%) was positive for L. amastigotes upon microscopy. Overall, 33 (43.4%) were positive in Leishmania genus-specific PCR, but only 23 (30.3%) were positive in L. donovani specific PCR. The dendrogram indicates that the current sequences clustered together with those from Nepal and Gampaha districts (Western Province), Sri Lanka, while the Indian and Eastern African sequences clustered separately. Conclusions: The genetic diversity was low among the isolates, indicating a single and possibly a local point of origin. However, the similarity of Sri Lankan and Nepal strains indicate a possibility of a shared point of origin, which needs more extensive evidence to confirm.