[Changes in the skin and internal organs of hamsters infected with various species of Leishmania]

Morphological changes in organs and tissues of golden hamsters infected with different substrains of three species of Leishmania were studied by means of histological, histochemical and electron microscopy methods. Suspension of Leishmania promastigotes were administered intracutaneously to 495 animals. Detailed morphological analysis has shown that clinical differences in experimental leishmaniasis caused by three species of Leishmania are fully confirmed by morphological data. The studied species of Leishmania cause lesion of the skin specific for each species of the parasite. Thus, each of these parasites has its own characteristic type of relationships with a vertebrate host.