Molecular detection of Leishmania DNA in wild-caught sand flies, Phlebotomus and Sergentomyia spp. in northern Iran
Seyed Hassan Nikookar, Mohammad R. Akbari, Mohammad Ali Oshaghi, Nasibeh Hosseini-Vasoukolaei, Ahmadali Enayati, Farzad Motevalli-Haghi, Mahdi Fakhar
Abstract
Leishmaniasis is currently considered a major health problem in Iran, posing an increasing threat to society's development in various dimensions. This study aimed to detect Leishmania infection in wild-caught sand flies in Sari City, northern Iran. Sand flies were collected using sticky traps, and Leishmania DNA was identified using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) targeting the ITS2-rDNA region, followed by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis. A total of 138 female sand flies were tested, among which, only 1 specimen of Ph. papatasi (11.11 %) and Ph . major (14.28 %), 4 specimens of Ph. kandelakii (7.27 %) and Se. dentata (8.33 %), and 2 specimens of Se. sintoni (50 %) were naturally infected with L. ( L .) major . This was observed in the ITS2 nested-PCR amplification assays where a ∼ 245 bp PCR band was produced. Also, RFLP analysis by Mnl1 revealed the fragments of 55 and 70 and 120 bp for infected sand flies which are characteristic of L . ( L .) major . Most of the sand flies were unfed, collected during warm season, found indoor. This study reperesents the first molecular detection of L . ( L .) major in wild-caught sand flies, specifically in Ph. papatasi in this region, as well as Ph. kandelakii and Ph. major in Iran and even the world.