Leishmania donovani is considered the causative organism of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) and post-kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis (PKDL). Testing of 4/29 DNA samples from VL and PKDL patients as well as 2/7 field isolates showed an aberrant internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1) restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) pattern, which upon sequencing strongly matched Leptomonas seymouri, thus confirming its presence in Indian leishmaniasis.

Abstract. Post-kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis (PKDL) is a chronic dermatosis that generally occurs after apparent cure of visceral leishmaniasis caused by Leishmania donovani. In view of the prolonged treatment regimens necessary for PKDL, noncompliance is a major limitation; an optimal regimen is yet to be defined, but 12 weeks of therapy with miltefosine is generally recommended. We performed a single-arm open-label trial of miltefosine administered daily for 16 weeks in 27 patients in Kolkata with PKDL. After 4 weeks of treatment, nine patients were lost to follow-up because of unacceptable side effects, including severe abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting. Of the 18 remaining patients, seven completed 12 weeks of therapy and 11 completed 16 weeks of therapy. Three of the seven who received 12 weeks of therapy and none of the 11 who received 16 weeks of therapy experienced disease relapse. Our results suggest that a 16-week course of miltefosine is required for reliable cure of PKDL. Further, the study highlighted the urgent need for a multicentric randomized controlled trial of 12 versus 16 weeks of treatment with miltefosine for PKDL so as to achieve the goal of elimination of leishmaniasis in south Asia.Post-kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis (PKDL), a chronic dermatosis appears in 5-10% and over 60% of apparently cured cases of visceral leishmaniasis (VL or kala-azar) in south Asia and east Africa, respectively. On the basis of their clinical features, patients with PKDL in south Asia can be broadly categorized into two variants namely, polymorphic, where hypopigmented macules, papules/plaques, and/or nodules are present, or macular, where patients primarily present with hypopigmented macules.

In VL, monocyte functions were severely impaired facilitating parasite persistence; anti-leishmanial chemotherapy mediated parasite elimination through modulation of the macrophage microenvironment by restoring its redox status and antigen presenting capacity.

Abstract. This report presents three cases where the rK39 strip test failed to diagnose two cases of post-kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis and one case of visceral leishmaniasis. However, a strong clinical suspicion prompted further evaluation by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), which established the etiology. The present case series highlights the usefulness of PCR in the diagnosis of leishmaniasis.

Taken together, our study has established a male dominance in PKDL, which showed a strong association with testosterone. This information should be taken into consideration for disease monitoring and control.