Characterization of Leishmania isolated from unhealed lesions caused by leishmanization

ABSTRACT

Leishmania parasites were isolated after 13 and 8 years from the unhealed lesions of 2 soldiers who had been immunized against leishmaniasis during the war between Iraq and the Islamic Republic of Iran. Isoenzyme characterization on these isolates using 11 enzyme systems was carried out and the results were compared with the enzyme profiles of the original isolates of L. major used for leishmanization. Minor enzymatic differences in glucose-6-phosphate dehyrognase and phosphoglucomutase were observed but otherwise the strains appeared unchanged