BackgroundCutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is a neglected worldwide, zoonotic, vector-borne, tropical disease that is a threat to public health. This threat may spread from endemic to non-endemic areas. Current research has exploited epidemiological, molecular and phylogenetical studies to determine the danger of an outbreak of CL in the borderline area between northern and central Iraq from 2014–2017.Methodology/Principal findingsFor the first time, using sequence analysis of the cytochrome b gene, the occurrence of CL in the borderline area between northern and central Iraq was confirmed to be due to Leishmania major. The phylogenetic analysis indicated that it was closely related to the L. major MRHO/IR/75/ER strain in Iran.Conclusions and significanceIn conclusion, the genotype confirmation of the L. major strain will improve our understanding of the epidemiology of the disease. This is important for facilitating control programs to prevent the further spread of CL. Furthermore, this area could be considered as a model for further research on the risk of global CL epidemics in other non-endemic countries where both reservoir hosts and sandfly vectors are present.
Canine leishmaniasis (CanL) caused by Leishmania infantum (L. infantum) is considered as a zoonotic disease and within the last few decades, studies have identified the parasite as a major causative agent of human visceral leishmaniasis. However, in dogs, few recent studies have determined L. major as a cause of cutaneous manifestations and L. tropica as an etiological agent for cutaneous lesions involving mucosa. Interestingly, current study has found canine cutaneous lesions with mucosal involvement in a dog diagnosed with L. major, for the first time, in a focused area of human cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) in the borderline between northern and central Iraq. Both molecular and phylogenetic studies showed that the dog L. major strain is closely related to that previously isolated from human CL in the same area. Moreover, serological study using rK39 identified IgG response against Leishmania, and the histological finding revealed the infiltration of inflammatory cells around the infection sites. These data will broaden our knowledge about CanL concerning the appearance of cutaneous clinical manifestations with mucocutaneous lesions caused by L. major. Further study on other animal reservoirs and vectors will shed the light on the epidemiology of this disease.
Toxoplasma gondii and Neospora caninum are closely related intracellular protozoan parasites and tissue cyst-forming Coccidia of the phylum Apicomplexa. There are remarkable similarities between the morphology, genomes and transcriptomes of both parasites. Toxoplasma is zoonotic, with a wide host range and is mainly transmitted horizontally between its definitive host, the cat, and its intermediate hosts. Neospora causes disease within a narrow host range and with reduced virulence potential to the hosts. The dog is the definitive host of Neospora and its epidemiology in cattle mainly depends on vertical transmission. What causes these biological differences is not well understood. Since these parasites secrete an array of secretory proteins, including kinases, during infection to manipulate host cell responses. Host-parasite interactions due to phosphorylation of host cell proteins by T. gondii kinases enhance virulence and maintenance of infection. In this study, proteome-wide phosphorylation events of host cell proteins were investigated in response to infection with T. gondii and N. caninum using phosphoproteomic analyses, followed by pathway analysis on host signalling pathways. A few interesting differences in host responses at both the qualitative and quantitative levels were identified between the two infections; about one third of the phosphoproteomes, approximately 21% of the phospho-motifs and several pathways such as glycolysis/gluconeogenesis and mTOR pathways of the host cell were found differentially enriched between infection with these parasites. Identifying the differences in host-parasite interactions represents a promising step forward for uncovering the biological dissimilarities between both parasites.
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