Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
How flow cytometry tells dog skin from visceral leishmaniasis apart
By Santiago, Marta de Almeida et al.·Published in Veterinary parasitology·2008·Laborató, Brazil·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Differentiation between canine cutaneous and visceral leishmaniasis by the detection of immunoglobulin G specific for Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis and Leishmania (Leishmania) chagasi antigens using flow cytometry.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of dogs was tested for leishmaniasis, a disease caused by parasites, to see if they had the cutaneous (skin) or visceral (internal) form. Researchers used a special test called flow cytometry to detect specific antibodies in the blood of 19 dogs, with 9 having cutaneous leishmaniasis and 10 having visceral leishmaniasis. The test showed that dogs with the skin form had a stronger reaction to one type of parasite antigen compared to the other, while dogs with the internal form had similar reactions to both. This method could help veterinarians better diagnose and treat these infections in dogs, especially in areas where both types are common.
People also search for: dog leishmaniasis symptoms · how to treat cutaneous leishmaniasis in dogs · visceral leishmaniasis in dogs treatment
Abstract
Flow cytometry employing Leishmania (L.) chagasi (Lc) and L. (Viannia) braziliensis (Lb) antigen was used to establish the differential diagnosis between visceral (VL) and cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) in dogs. Flow cytometry permitted the detection of Leishmania-specific immunoglobulin G in sera from 19 dogs: nine with CL and 10 with VL. A significant difference in the percentage of positive staining was observed in sera from dogs with CL between the homologous antigen (69% for Lb) and the heterologous antigen (42% for Lc). However, this difference was not significant in sera from dogs with VL (61% for Lb and 73% for Lc). No significant staining was observed in control sera (0.6% for Lb and 0.4% for Lc) consisting of samples from healthy dogs, or in the group with sporotrichosis (1.8% for Lb and 1.5% for Lc), a differential diagnosis of CL. The results suggest that flow cytometry might be useful for the differentiation between CL and VL in dogs, with practical applications in areas where the two infections overlap.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18462885/