Studies on New World leishmaniasis and its transmission

本财政年度主要开展了以下项目：1）用抗疟药物治疗皮肤利什曼病患者; 2）鉴定厄瓜多尔不同流行区分离的寄生虫; 3）利用现场收集的材料进行的一些实验室实验。1）使用9种单克隆抗体对厄瓜多尔的115个分离株进行ELISA检测，66个为巴拿马利什曼原虫; 18号，墨西哥乳杆菌; 8、类大乳杆菌; 4、巴西乳杆菌;和2. L.equatorensis.然而，17个分离株未被本方法鉴定。2）当厄瓜多尔皮肤利什曼病患者用抗疟药Mephaquin和Plasmotrim治疗时，大多数患者在口服治疗开始后2 - 4周治愈，显示100%治愈率。与锑剂的胃肠外治疗相比，本研究中获得的结果非常好。因此，这些抗疟药物的效果应测试其他临床形式的利什曼病，如DCL，VL，MCL和PKDL。3）在使用上述抗疟药物的实验室研究中，在小鼠或其他实验动物中没有观察到明确的疗效。4）抗疟药治疗后患者皮肤活检组织的电镜观察显示，利什曼原虫生物体和感染细胞、巨噬细胞均发生了有趣的形态学变化。5）为了了解厄瓜多尔亚马逊利什曼原虫P-糖蛋白的作用，我们对利什曼原虫P-糖蛋白的作用机制进行了初步探讨。分离相关基因并测序所有碱基对排列。结果提示该基因可能是一个新的利什曼原虫P-糖蛋白。

In this fiscal year, the following items were mainly carried out : 1) the treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis patients with antimalarial drugs ; 2) identification of parasites isolated in different endemic areas of Ecuador ; and 3) some laboratory experiments using materials collected in the field.1) When 115 isolates from Ecuador were examined by ELISA using 9 monoclonal antibodies, 66 were L.panamensis ; 18, L.mexicana ; 8, L.major-like ; 4, L.braziliensis ; and 2. L.equatorensis. however, 17 isolates were not identified by the present method.2) When Ecuadorian patients with cutaneous leishmaniasis were treated with Mephaquin and Plasmotrim, antimalarial drugs, the majority of them were curative between 2 and 4 weeks after the commencement of the oral treatment showing 100% cure rate. The results obtained in this study are excellent when compared with the parenteral treatment with antimonials. Therefore, the effects of these antimalarial drugs should be tested for other clinical forms of leishmaniasis such as DCL,VL,MCL and PKDL.3) In laboratory studies using the antimalarial drugs mentioned above, no clear-cut curative effect was observed in mice or other experimental animals. Such a discrepancy between animals and humans might be caused by the difference of the action mode of the drug used.4) Electron microscopic examinations of skin biopsies from treated patients with the antimalarial drugs revealed that there was an interesting morphological change in Leishmania organisms and the infected cells, macrophages.5) In order to know the role of P-glycoprotein from Ecuadorian Leishmania amazonensis, the relating gene was isolated and all the base pair arrangement was sequenced. The results obtained suggested that the gene might be a new P-glycoprotein of the genus Leishmania.