Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Fast tests to tell Leishmania braziliensis from infantum in dogs
By de Luna, Rafaela Lira Nogueira et al.·Published in Parasites & vectors·2025·es Institute, Brazil·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Rapid isothermal molecular tests to discriminate between Leishmania braziliensis and Leishmania infantum infections in dogs.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A study tested new rapid tests to identify two types of Leishmania infections (Leishmania braziliensis and Leishmania infantum) in dogs. These tests were able to detect the parasite's DNA in bone marrow and skin samples from infected dogs, showing a high success rate. This means that if a dog is suspected of having one of these infections, these tests could quickly confirm the diagnosis, even in places without advanced lab facilities. The tests could help veterinarians provide faster treatment options for affected dogs.
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Abstract
BACKGROUND: We standardized two recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA) assays coupled with lateral flow (LF) strips for the detection of Leishmania braziliensis and Leishmania infantum kinetoplast DNA (kDNA). METHODS: The RPA-LF assays were tested at different temperatures and reaction times, using DNA from cultured L. braziliensis and L. infantum. The L. infantum RPA-LF was also tested using clinical samples (bone marrow and skin) from infected and uninfected dogs. RESULTS: The detection limits (analytical sensitivity) of the assays were 0.04 pg/μl and 0.04 ng/μl for L. braziliensis and L. infantum kDNA, respectively. Using clinical samples, the L. infantum RPA-LF successfully detected the parasite kDNA in bone marrow (21/30; 70.0%) and skin samples (23/30, 76.6%) from naturally infected dogs. We found an almost perfect agreement (kappa = 0.807) between RPA-LF for L. infantum and our reference quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), considering clinical samples with a quantification cycle (C) < 30, whereas the agreement with samples with a C > 30 (lower parasite loads) was moderate (kappa = 0.440). CONCLUSIONS: The RPA-LF assays developed here may be promising diagnostic tools for point-of-care diagnosis of L. infantum and L. braziliensis infection in dogs, particularly in remote rural areas lacking laboratory infrastructure.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39773298/