Molecular diagnosis of leishmaniasis: current updates and future prospectives

Leishmaniasis is considered a neglected tropical disease of different clinical manifestations; cutaneous, mucocutaneous and visceral leishmaniasis. It is caused by Leishmania parasites and transmitted with correspondent sand fly vector. Diagnosis and detection of the Leishmania parasites using microscopic examination is the gold standard method, however ecological, biochemical and molecular diagnostic approaches are available with variable specificity and sensitivity. Molecular based diagnostic methods have been used extensively due to their high sensitivity and specificity. Different PCR methods depending on different DNA targets and kinetoplast DNA of Leishmania parasite, are considered very sensitive. Further research should be conducted to develop a routine molecular test with high specificity and sensitivity with a standard approach for DNA extraction and quantification. Molecular diagnosis of leishmaniasis have great influence on therapeutic decisions and response to treatment especially in patients with Leishmania-HIV coinfection. Quantitatively, the parasite loads measurement has important consequences on assessing host health, immunocompetency, and disease prognosis.