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Leishmania infantum

Species of parasitic protist

Leishmania infantum is a parasitic protozoan and the causative agent of infantile visceral leishmaniasis in the Mediterranean region and in Latin America, where it has been called Leishmania chagasi.{{cite journal | doi-access = free

Leishmania infantum is closely related to Leishmania donovani, and some authors believe that these two species are so close as to actually be subspecies of each other; however, phylogenetic analyses can easily distinguish between the two groups despite no difference in morphology in the species complex. Some isolates formerly labelled L. donovani may be actually L. infantum.

Model system for studies of DNA repair

Comparative bioinformatic analyses showed that the size of the L. infantum BRCA2 protein is approximately three times smaller (125 kD) than its human counterpart. Furthermore, analyses revealed that LiBRCA2 possesses key features of the BRCA2 family. The smaller size of the Leishmania BRCA2 DNA repair protein has been exploited to better understand its function in homologous recombination and its interaction with the LiRAD51 recombinase.

Reservoir hosts

L. infantum is spread by Phlebotomus sand fly vectors and is able to infect numerous domestic and wild mammals. The most notable targets of this disease, zoonotic visceral leishmaniasis, are canines in southern Europe. Infections in wildlife tend to be uncommon. To further the understanding of possible hosts in Europe, xenodiagnosis has shown that hares (Lepus granatensis), rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus), black rats (Rattus rattus), and the American crab-eating fox (Cerdocyon thous) are all able to transmit the disease to vectors. There is also evidence that red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) and other canids may contribute to transmission. There are still potential hosts in Europe whose roles are still unclear, including felines, mustelids, insectivores, chiroptera, and various rodent species.

References

(2014). "Cutaneous Leishmaniasis in North Africa: a review.". Parasite.
(September 2023). "Same parasite, different outcomes: unraveling the epidemiology of Leishmania infantum infection in Brazil and Spain". Trends in Parasitology.
(May 2000). "The strange case of ''Leishmania chagasi''". Parasitol. Today (Regul. Ed.).
(2006). "Occurrence of ''Leishmania infantum'' cutaneous leishmaniasis in central Tunisia". Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.
(2024). "Asymptomatic ''Leishmania infantum'' infection in dogs and dog owners in an endemic area in southeast France". Parasite.
(December 2002). "Role of the Domestic Chicken (''Gallus gallus'')in the Epidemiology of Urban Visceral Leishmaniasis in Brazil". Emerging Infectious Diseases.
(1986). "Leishmania in the Old World: 4. The distribution of L. donovani sensu lato zymodemes". Trans. R. Soc. Trop. Med. Hyg..
(2005). "Analysis of ribosomal DNA internal transcribed spacer sequences of the Leishmania donovani complex". Microbes Infect..
(August 2012). "Interactions between BRCA2 and RAD51 for promoting homologous recombination in ''Leishmania infantum''". Nucleic Acids Res..
(February 2018). "Neglected vector-borne zoonoses in Europe: Into the wild". Veterinary Parasitology.

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