[Cutaneous Leishmaniasis Cases Caused by Leishmania infantum in Sanliurfa Province, Turkey]. / Sanliurfa'da Leishmania infantum'un Etken Oldugu Kutanöz Leysmanyazis (Sark Çibani) Olgulari.

Leishmaniases are a group of vector-borne diseases, and two clinical forms, visceral (VL) and cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL, Oriental sore), are seen in Turkey. While VL cases are recorded as 20-25 per year, CL cases are reported around 2000 per year, and nearly half of CL cases were recorded in Sanliurfa province. Therefore, by knowing the epidemiology of the disease in Sanliurfa province, it is possible to develop control measures and reduce the total number of cases across the country. Although Leishmania tropica is known as the main causative agent in Sanliurfa, other Leishmania species have also been identified as a result of mass human movements in the last 10 years. In this study, we aimed to present the first CL cases caused by Leishmania infantum in Sanliurfa. A total of 14 cases, which were admitted with the suspicion of CL and diagnosed as positive by direct microscopy and/or real-time ITS1-PCR using lesion aspiration samples are included in the study. Two or more smears were prepared from the samples taken from the lesions of the patients by fine needle aspiration. One of the smears was stained with Giemsa stain after fixation with methyl alcohol and examined under the light microscope at x1000 magnification for the presence of Leishmania amastigotes. DNA isolation was made from the other unstained preparations with a commercial kit (Qiagen DNeasy, Germany) according to the recommendations of the manufacturer. The real-time ITS1-PCR method was performed by using the Old World species-specific primers and probes. As a result, by the identification of the species with real-time ITS1-PCR, it was determined that the causative agent was L.infantum in five cases, L.major in one case and L.tropica in eight cases. It was learned that four of the cases in which L.infantum was detected as the causative agent were local, one was Syrian and they lived in the city center. Also two of the eight cases, which were identified as L.tropica, were Syrian and six of them were domestic cases and all of them lived in the city center. While all 14 patients included in the study were positive with real-time ITS1-PCR, amastigotes were detected in 10 cases only. The cases of CL presented in this study are the first cases caused by L.infantum reported from Sanliurfa, and are important in terms of concretely demonstrating the effect of mass human mobility and migration on the epidemiology of the infection.

Correction to: Molecular identification of Leishmania spp. isolates causes cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) in Sanliurfa Province, Turkey, where CL is highly endemic.

In published article (Molecular Identification of Leishmania spp. Isolates Causes Cutaneous Leishmaniasis (CL) in Sanliurfa Province, Turkey, Where CL is Highly Endemic) Table 1 titled "The pH values of yogurts collected from villages in Turkey" doesn't belong to this article.

Molecular identification of Leishmania spp. isolates causes cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) in Sanliurfa Province, Turkey, where CL is highly endemic.

Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is an important public health problem in Turkey. CL has been most frequently seen in Sanliurfa. There is an expectation of increase in the population of leishmaniasis cases with the influence of Syrian refugees arriving in Turkey. In this study we aimed to diagnosis of CL and identifying of parasite from Leishmania isolates by using ITS 1 PCR RFLP. Samples were collected from 135 CL patients in Sanliurfa. After the specimens were inoculated in medium NNN, the ones which were cultures positive were cultivated in RPMI 1640 followed by PCR-RFLP. Genomic DNA was extracted phenol-chloroform procedure. Samples were examined by using ITS 1 PCR followed by RFLP analysis. Our results indicated that two species, L. tropica (132 samples) and L. major (3 samples), are responsible for cutaneous leishmaniasis in Sanliurfa. Our study is the first scientific study in which it is reported molecular analyses of cutaneous leishmaniasis cases caused by L. major in Sanliurfa in Southestern Anatolia Region. Because CL cases caused by L.major are detected in our study, it is considered that genotyping is important for diagnosis of Leishmania and following change of epidemiology.

[Is the agent of cutaneous leishmaniasis in Sanliurfa changing? First cases of Leishmania major]. / Sanliurfa'da Sark Çibani Etkeni Degisiyor Mu? Ilk Leishmania Major Vakalari.

Today, almost 2 million new leishmaniasis cases are noted annually; 1.5 million of these are cutaneous (CL), and others are visceral leishmaniasis (VL). In Sanliurfa, CL cases caused by Leishmania tropica but not by other agents such as L. infantum and L. major. L. tropica is a unique parasite species in Sanliurfa and is the causative agent of anthroponotic CL (transmitted from human to vector to human). Our aim was to report 3 new CL cases due to L. major ( 2 autochthonous and 1 imported) identified in Sanliurfa. Lesion aspiration samples taken from patients were inoculated into NNN culture. Following successful isolation in NNN, promastigotes were obtained by mass culture using RPMI + 20% FCS medium. Parasites species were identified as L. major using ITS-1 PCR-RFLP analysis. This is the first report of autochthonous CL cases caused by L. major in Sanliurfa, and it is estimated that the number of such cases will increase in this region. Public health measures should be taken for L. major infections, while researchers should plan field studies to identify the vectors and reservoirs of L. major.