Comparative genomics of Tunisian Leishmania major isolates causing human cutaneous leishmaniasis with contrasting clinical severity.

ABSTRACT: Zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis caused by Leishmania (L.) major parasites affects urban and suburban areas in the center and south of Tunisia where the disease is endemo-epidemic. Several cases were reported in human patients for which infection due to L. major induced lesions with a broad range of severity. However, very little is known about the mechanisms underlying this diversity. Our hypothesis is that parasite genomic variability could, in addition to the host immunological background, contribute to the intra-species clinical variability observed in patients and explain the lesion size differences observed in the experimental model. Based on several epidemiological, in vivo and in vitro experiments, we focused on two clinical isolates showing contrasted severity in patients and BALB

SUBMITTER: Ghouila A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5376240 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature