Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
PCR and real-time PCR tests to diagnose leishmaniasis in dogs
By Ramos, Rafael Antonio do Nascimento et al.·Published in Revista brasileira de parasitologia veterinaria = Brazilian journal of veterinary parasitology : Orgao Oficial do Colegio Brasileiro de Parasitologia Veterinaria·2012·Laborató·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Polymerase chain reaction and real-time PCR for diagnosing of Leishmania infantum chagasi in dogs.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of 35 dogs living in an area where leishmaniasis is common were tested for a parasite called Leishmania infantum chagasi, which can cause serious illness. Researchers used two methods, PCR and real-time PCR, to check for the parasite in samples from the dogs' bone marrow, lymph nodes, and spleen. They found that real-time PCR was better at detecting the parasite, but both methods worked well with lymph node samples, which are easier to collect. This study suggests that testing lymph nodes can be an effective way to diagnose this infection in dogs.
People also search for: dog leishmaniasis symptoms · how to test for Leishmania in dogs · dog lymph node biopsy results
Abstract
The importance of dogs as a reservoir for Leishmania infantumchagasi in urban environments has stimulated numerous studies assessing diagnostic techniques. When performed properly, such procedures are an important step in preventing leishmaniasis in humans. Molecular methods have become prominent for this purpose. The aim of the present study was to determine the performance of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and real-time PCR (qPCR) for diagnosing of canine visceral leishmaniasis (CVL) using different biological samples. For this, 35 dogs from an area endemic for CVL were used. Bone marrow aspirate and lymph node and spleen fragments from these dogs were used for the molecular diagnosis. In the present study, qPCR was able to detect a greater number of positive animals than seen with PCR. Among the different biological samples used, there was no significant difference in L. infantumchagasi DNA detection between PCR and qPCR. However, considering that lymph nodes are easy to acquire, these can be considered to be the best samples for making molecular diagnoses of L. infantum chagasi infection.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23070425/