Global status of synchronizing Leishmania RNA virus in Leishmania parasites: A systematic review with meta‐analysis

Abstract

Leishmaniasis is one of the most neglected tropical diseases caused by protozoan parasites belonging to the genus Leishmania. There is much evidence regarding prevalence of Leishmania RNAvirus (LRV) causing Old World leishmaniasis (OWL) and New World leishmaniasis (NWL); however, a combined evidence‐based knowledge on this topic is not still available. The purpose of this systematic review and meta‐analysis was to address the global status of synchronizing LRV in Leishmania in the available literature. The data were systematically collected from the English electronic databases up to May 2018. Then, the studies were screened based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The random‐effect model was used by forest plot with 95% confidence interval (CI). Overall, 877 samples from 17 articles were included in this study. Given species of Leishmania, the highest prevalence of LRV belonged to Leishmania (L.) Viannia (V.) guyanensis and L. V. braziliensis. Additionally, the virus was detected also in L. V. amazonensis, L. V. panamanensis, L. V. lainsoni, L. aethiopica, L. major and L. infantum. By random‐effect model, the global prevalence of LRV was estimated to be 26.2% (95% CI: 14.4% ‐ 40.1%). The high prevalence of LRV among causative agents of NWLisolated from the metastatic clinical forms suggests potential association of LRV with metastatic clinical forms in New World endemic regions. A comprehensive investigation on experimental and clinical aspects of LRV is needed to fully appraise the role of these viruses in pathogenicity of Leishmania parasites and their drug resistance.

Characterization of a new Leishmania major strain for use in a controlled human infection model

“…Symbiotic leishmaniaviruses have been associated with enhanced host type I interferon responses and contribute to the metastatic potential in L. Viannia species 58 . Although Leishmaniavirus has been detected at lower frequency in Old World L. major strains 59,60 , there is no conclusive data to suggest an involvement in pathogenesis and treatment failure. In Iranian cases, L. major infection was not influenced by the presence or absence of LRV2 61 .…”

Determinants of Unresponsiveness to Treatment in Cutaneous Leishmaniasis: A Focus on Anthroponotic Form Due to Leishmania tropica

“…Up to now, LRV-1 has been identified from different Leishmania spp., especially in the New World species of L. (Viannia) braziliensis, L. V. guyanensis, L. V. panamensis, L. amazonensis, and L. V. lainsoni, which are responsible for occurring of disseminated, diffuse, or mucocutaneous forms. Additionally, the virus was also detected in the Old World species of L. aethiopica, L. major, and L. infantum (Bourreau et al, 2015;Hajjaran et al, 2016;Saberi et al, 2019).…”

Characterization of a newLeishmania majorisolate for use in a controlled human infection model

“…Symbiotic leishmaniaviruses have been associated with enhanced host type I interferon responses and contribute to the metastatic potential in L. Viannia species 54 . Although Leishmaniavirus has been detected at lower frequency in Old World L. major strains 55,56 , there is no conclusive data to suggest an involvement in pathogenesis and treatment failure. In Iranian cases, L. major infection was not influenced by the presence or absence of LRV2 57 .…”