Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Detecting Leishmania DNA in dog ear wax using qPCR
By Belinchón-Lorenzo, Silvia et al.·Published in Veterinary parasitology·2016·Veterinary Faculty, Spain·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: First detection of Leishmania kDNA in canine cerumen samples by qPCR.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of 38 dogs living in areas where leishmaniasis is common were tested for a parasite that causes serious health issues. Among the 33 dogs diagnosed with leishmaniasis, researchers found the parasite's DNA in their earwax (cerumen) in about 91% of the samples, which is a promising sign for using this non-invasive method for diagnosis. This new technique could help veterinarians detect leishmaniasis more easily without needing invasive procedures. The study suggests that testing earwax could be a reliable way to identify this disease in dogs.
People also search for: dog leishmaniasis symptoms · how to test for leishmaniasis in dogs · non-invasive leishmaniasis diagnosis in dogs
Abstract
Nowadays, searching for alternative non-invasive methods for molecular diagnosis of canine visceral leishmaniosis is getting increasingly important. We previously described the presence of Leishmania kinetoplast DNA (kDNA) in canine hair; in this case we hypothesized whether foreign DNA might be present in cerumen of dogs with leishmaniosis, and be detected by Real time quantitative PCR (qPCR). A population of 38 dogs that lived in Leishmania endemic areas was divided in two groups: A (33 dogs with confirmed leishmaniosis by serological techniques) and B (5 healthy dogs). Blood, lymph node, bone marrow and cerumen samples from all animals were tested for the presence of parasite kDNA. Our method was 100% specific, and in dogs from group A, Leishmania infantum kDNA was detected and quantified in the 100% of lymph node samples, in 90.9% of cerumen samples, in 88.5% of the bone marrow samples and in 57.6% of the blood samples. The qPCR-cerumen is a new non-invasive method that shows a high potential for the diagnosis of zoonotic visceral leishmaniosis.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27692333/