Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Quick and accurate molecular test for visceral leishmaniasis in dogs
By Caldas, Sérgio et al.·Published in Parasitology research·2020·Serviç, Brazil·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Visceral leishmaniasis: a practical strategy for quantitative molecular diagnosis in naturally infected dogs.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A dog with canine visceral leishmaniasis (CVL) often shows symptoms that can be mistaken for other illnesses, making diagnosis tricky. Researchers developed a new, faster test using samples from the dog's bone marrow, lymph nodes, and conjunctiva to detect the parasite causing CVL. The best results came from lymph node samples, which provided accurate and quick diagnosis without needing complex procedures. This new method could help veterinarians diagnose CVL more effectively, leading to better treatment options for affected dogs.
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Abstract
The diagnosis of canine visceral leishmaniasis (CVL) has been a problem for public health services due to the variety of clinical signs similar to other diseases and low sensitivity and specificity of available tests. In this sense, our main objective was to develop a simple, rapid, and accurate quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) diagnosis for CVL. Thus, low-invasive samples from bone marrow (BM), popliteal lymph nodes (PLN), and conjunctival swabs (CS) were selected from negative and VL-positive dogs, using as gold standard, immunological and parasitological tests performed with different tissues. Oligonucleotides for Leishmania infantum kDNA were designed and the limit of quantification and amplification efficiency of the qPCR were determined using tissue-specific standards produced with DNA from those different tissues, mixed with DNA from a known amount of L. infantum promastigotes. Endogenous control was used to validate a comparative Ct method, and tissue parasite concentrations were estimated by comparison with tissue-specific reference standard samples. The overall analysis of the qPCR data suggests the following ranking for tissue choice: PLN > BM > CS. Finally, we have concluded that this molecular approach simplifies and accelerates the quantitative diagnostic process because it is easy to perform, requiring no DNA dosing or standard curve application, and it shows good diagnostic parameters, especially when using popliteal lymph node samples.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32285265/