Recent kala-azar cases in India: isozyme profiles of Leishmania parasites

In this study, three WHO recommended reference strains of Leishmania donovani (DD8), L. tropica (K27) and L. major (5 ASKH) were compared by isozyme analysis of 9 soluble enzymes using cellulose acetate electrophoresis (CAE). The isozyme profile of the three species showed distinct electrophoretic mobilities of the enzymes studied. This technique was applied to study the enzyme patterns of 8 clinical isolates of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) and two post kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis (PKDL) collected from the present epidemic (1990s to date). They were seen to be similar to the two isolates of the 1970s epidemic. Interspecies differences were observed in different reference Leishmania species whereas no intraspecies difference was observed amongst the clinical isolates (8VL + 2PKDL) and all of these were found to be similar to L. donovani isolates of 1970s epidemic.