Frontiers in Parasitology

Author(s): Alejandro G. Schijman, Juan M. Burgos and Paula L. Marcet

DOI: 10.2174/9781681084053117010012

Molecular Tools and Strategies for Diagnosis of Chagas Disease and Leishmaniasis

Pp: 394-453 (60)

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Abstract

SHS investigation development is considered from the geographical and historical viewpoint. 3 stages are described. Within Stage 1 the work was carried out in the Department of the Institute of Chemical Physics in Chernogolovka where the scientific discovery had been made. At Stage 2 the interest to SHS arose in different cities and towns of the former USSR. Within Stage 3 SHS entered the international scene. Now SHS processes and products are being studied in more than 50 countries.

Abstract

Chagas disease and leishmaniasis, caused by the kinetoplastid protozoans Trypanosoma cruzi and Leishmania spp., respectively, affect millions of people worldwide, most of them belonging to neglected populations. Diagnostic tests for Chagas disease are employed during epidemiological surveys of vectorial and oral transmission, blood bank screening, analysis of pregnant women and their newborns, and in individual cases. However, the currently available assays need improvement. The different phases of the disease, the transmission mode and the high genetic variability of the parasite increase the difficulties of making diagnostic kits with different markers suitable for the diverse scenarios of T. cruzi infection. Different Leishmania species cause diverse clinical features and sequelae and require different clinical management. In contrast to Chagas disease diagnosis, molecular diagnosis for leishmaniasis requires not only confirmation of the infection but also the genotyping of complexes, species or subspecies. Precise diagnosis and rapid species identification can facilitate decision-making respect to treatment and follow-up of parasite spread. The aim of this chapter is to summarize the most commonly used molecular tools described to date to detect T. cruzi infection and to detect and genotype Leishmania spp.

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