Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Comparing 3 DNA tests for diagnosing visceral leishmaniasis in dogs
By Reis, Levi Eduardo Soares et al.·Published in Veterinary parasitology·2013·Laborató, Brazil·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Molecular diagnosis of canine visceral leishmaniasis: a comparative study of three methods using skin and spleen from dogs with natural Leishmania infantum infection.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of 60 dogs with a confirmed infection of Leishmania infantum, which causes canine visceral leishmaniasis (CVL), underwent testing to find the best method for diagnosis. Researchers compared three techniques for detecting the parasite's DNA in skin and spleen samples. They found that quantitative PCR (qPCR) was the most effective method, especially when using skin samples, which are less invasive to collect. This study suggests that qPCR can help veterinarians accurately diagnose CVL in dogs, improving treatment options for affected pets.
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Abstract
Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and its variations represent highly sensitive and specific methods for Leishmania DNA detection and subsequent canine visceral leishmaniasis (CVL) diagnosis. The aim of this work was to compare three different molecular diagnosis techniques (conventional PCR [cPCR], seminested PCR [snPCR], and quantitative PCR [qPCR]) in samples of skin and spleen from 60 seropositive dogs by immunofluorescence antibody test and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Parasitological analysis was conducted by culture of bone marrow aspirate and optical microscopic assessment of ear skin and spleen samples stained with Giemsa, the standard tests for CVL diagnosis. The primers L150/L152 and LINR4/LIN17/LIN19 were used to amplify the conserved region of the Leishmania kDNA minicircle in the cPCR, and snPCR and qPCR were performed using the DNA polymerase gene (DNA pol α) primers from Leishmania infantum. The parasitological analysis revealed parasites in 61.7% of the samples. Sensitivities were 89.2%, 86.5%, and 97.3% in the skin and 81.1%, 94.6%, and 100.0% in spleen samples used for cPCR, snPCR, and qPCR, respectively. We demonstrated that the qPCR method was the best technique to detect L. infantum in both skin and spleen samples. However, we recommend the use of skin due to the high sensitivity and sampling being less invasive.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23953760/