When Precision Matters: Bone Marrow Cytology Meets qPCR in a Pilot Study Quantifying <i>Leishmania infantum</i> Load in Dogs.

ABSTRACT: Leishmania infantum is the causative agent of canine leishmaniosis (CanL), a zoonotic disease of considerable clinical and epidemiological concern. Quantification of parasite load is valuable for clinical management, particularly in low-parasite-load cases. This pilot study evaluated the correlation between cytological and molecular techniques in bone marrow samples from dogs clinically affected with leishmaniosis. Amastigotes were quantified by two independent observers using light microscopy, and the same samples were analysed by real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) employing Leishmania spp. specific commercial primers. Inter-observer agreement was moderate according to Cohen's kappa (κ = 0.47) and substantial according to the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC =

SUBMITTER: Costa J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12472918 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature