Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Detecting Leishmania infantum DNA in dog eye and mouth swabs by PCR
By Lombardo, Gabriella et al.·Published in Veterinary parasitology·2012·Public Health Department, Italy·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Detection of Leishmania infantum DNA by real-time PCR in canine oral and conjunctival swabs and comparison with other diagnostic techniques.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of dogs in Sicily were tested for Leishmania infection, which can cause serious health issues. Researchers collected samples from their blood, lymph nodes, conjunctiva (the tissue around the eye), and mouths to see where the infection could be detected most easily. They found that conjunctival swabs were almost as effective as lymph node samples for diagnosing the infection, making it a less invasive option for vets. This study also revealed that Leishmania DNA can be found in oral swabs for the first time.
People also search for: dog Leishmania symptoms · dog conjunctival swab test · how to test for Leishmania in dogs
Abstract
The use of non invasive sampling, such as collection of conjunctival swabs, as a diagnostic tool for the detection of Leishmania DNA is of interest. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic utility of detecting Leishmania infection with the use of conjunctival swab samples in dogs living in a highly endemic area for leishmaniosis and to investigate, for the first time, the presence of Leishmania DNA in oral swabs in the same population. One hundred sixty-three dogs living outdoor and recruited in various provinces of Sicily were studied. Leishmania infantum indirect fluorescent antibody test (IFAT), delayed-type hypersensitivity reaction to leishmanin (DTH) and real-time PCR of blood (BL), lymph node (LN), conjunctival (CS) and oral swab (OS) samples were performed. The positive PCR percentages in LN, CS, OS and BL samples were: 24.5%, 22.1%, 8.7% and 5.5%, respectively. Serological and DTH positive percentages were 27.0% and 73.8%, respectively. Seropositive and LN-PCR positive dogs had a high likelihood to be positive by CS-PCR. The similar positive PCR percentages found in CS and LN samples suggest the use of CS-PCR as non-invasive alternative technique to LN-PCR for the detection of Leishmania infection in dogs. In addition, this study demonstrated, for the first time, the presence of Leishmania DNA in oral swabs in dogs.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21906883/