Leishmaniasis in northern and western Africa: a review

Kimutai, Albert; Ngure, Peter; Tonui, Willy K.; Gicheru, Michael M.; Nyamwamu, Lydia Bonareri

doi:10.4314/ajid.v3i1.55077

Cited by 20 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…Males were significantly more affected than females, where there were 80 males (57.1%) and 60 females (42.9%) among the reported 140 cases (z=1.71, P =0.04) (Table 1). However, in a study that was conducted in southeastern France [13], males and females were equally affected with CL.Other studies in North-central province of Sri Lanka [14] and Al-Badarna, Libya [5] have shown similar findings to our results, where males were significantly more affected than females. This sex difference can be attributed to the engagement of Libyan males in outdoor activities and night duties that exposes them to sandfly bites more than females.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

“…In 2008, some 100,000 new cases of CL were reported by the EMR-WHO. Many researchers have studied leishmaniasis in the endemic northern African countries, e.g., Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya [5-12]. One of the established endemic leishmaniasis Libyan provinces is Al-jabal Al-gharbi province, where CL comprises a major parasitic health problem [7,10-12].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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An Epidemiological Study of Cutaneous Leishmaniasis in Al-Jabal Al-Gharbi, Libya

2013

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Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is an endemic parasitic infection in the Mediterranean region, including Libya and its Al-jabal Al-gharbi province. We aimed at studying the occupational relevance as well as other epidemiological aspects of CL. We investigated 140 CL cases who attended at Gharyan outpatient polyclinic during a period of 6 months in 2009. CL infection was clinically diagnosed and confirmed by demonstration of Leishmania parasites on smears from lesions. Our findings showed that males were more affected than females (P=0.04), and people above 10-years were more affected than younger ones (P=0.0001). A significant percent of CL cases belonged to Al-Kawasem subprovince (P=0.0001). Farm-related activities were the most frequent occupations among CL cases (P=0.04). In addition to farm workers, housewives and students are at risk groups since they are engaged at farm activities. Moreover, those who have occupations that require staying outdoors for a part of night, e.g., policemen, are also at risk. Compared to children, adult CL patients had multiple lesions (P=0.001) that were more prevalent in their upper and lower extremities than the face (P=0.0001). We conclude that CL is a major health problem in Al-jabal Al-gharbi province of Libya. The presence of rodents and sandflies makes it a suitable environment for Leishmania to spread in an endemic epidemiological pattern. Being engaged in farming activities or outdoor occupations increases the risk of infection. Various clinical patterns of CL suggest the presence of more than 1 species of Leishmania at Al-jabal Al-gharbi province. We propose that the 2 species responsible for CL in this area are L. major and L. tropica. Further investigations to identify the leishmanial species responsible for CL at Al-jabal Al-gharbi together with adoption of preventive and control programs are needed.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Epidemiological Study of Cutaneous Leishmaniasis in Al-Jabal Al-Gharbi, Libya

2013

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“…It is very likely that some cases of the CL in Mokolo were caused by L. infantum instead of L. major. However, the distribution of VL in western sub-Saharan Africa is generally poorly known as just a few sporadic outbreaks have been observed [27][28][29].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

First detection of Leishmania donovani in sand flies from Cameroon and its epidemiological implications

Tateng

Kirstein

Ngouateu

et al. 2018

Tropical Med Int Health

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The causative agent of CL could not be detected in potential vectors. Instead, we found evidence for visceral leishmaniasis (VL) parasites in Phlebotomus duboscqi as well as enzootic reptile parasites in the Mokolo area. We recommend that an epidemiological survey be carried out in the area to evaluate the prevalence and eventually describe the clinical manifestations of VL in the human population. Political instability in neighbouring countries and the resulting refugee migration are likely explanations for the emergence of VL in Mokolo.

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“…Visceral leishmaniasis is an NTD increasingly affecting European countries because of the massive flows of immigrants from North Africa (18). Its etiologic agent, Leishmania infantum, infects domestic dogs (canine leishmaniasis), which act as reservoir, and it is transmitted to humans through sandfly bites (20).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Indotecan (LMP400) and AM13-55: Two Novel Indenoisoquinolines Show Potential for Treating Visceral Leishmaniasis

Balaña‐Fouce

Fernández-Prada

Requena

et al. 2012

Antimicrob Agents Chemother

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dVisceral leishmaniasis is an emerging neglected tropical disease (NTD) caused by the protozoan Leishmania infantum in the countries bordering the Mediterranean Basin. Currently there is no effective vaccine against this disease, and the therapeutic approach is based on toxic derivatives of Sb V . Therefore, the discovery of new therapeutic targets and the development of drugs designed to inhibit them comprise an extremely important approach to fighting this disease. DNA topoisomerases (Top) have been identified as promising targets for therapy against leishmaniasis. These enzymes are involved in solving topological problems generated during replication, transcription, and recombination of DNA. Being unlike that of the mammalian host, type IB DNA topoisomerase (TopIB) from Leishmania spp. is a unique bisubunit protein, which makes it very interesting as a selective drug target. In the present investigation, we studied the effect of two TopIB poisons with indenoisoquinoline structure, indotecan and AM13-55, on a murine BALB/c model of infected splenocytes with L. infantum, comparing their effectiveness with that of the clinically tested leishmanicidal drug paromomycin. Both compounds have high selectivity indexes compared with uninfected splenocytes. SDS-KCl-precipitable DNA-protein complexes in Leishmania promastigotes and in vitro cleaving assays confirmed that these drugs are Top poisons. The inhibitory potency of both indenoisoquinolines on L. infantum recombinant TopIB was assessed in vitro, with results showing that indotecan was the most active compound, preventing the relaxation of supercoiled DNA. Experimental infections in susceptible BALB/c mice treated with 2.5 mg/kg body weight/day once every other day for a total of 15 days showed that indotecan cleared more than 80% of the parasite burden of the spleen and liver, indicating promising activity against visceral leishmaniasis.

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Leishmaniasis in northern and western Africa: a review

Cited by 20 publications

References 44 publications

An Epidemiological Study of Cutaneous Leishmaniasis in Al-Jabal Al-Gharbi, Libya

An Epidemiological Study of Cutaneous Leishmaniasis in Al-Jabal Al-Gharbi, Libya

First detection of Leishmania donovani in sand flies from Cameroon and its epidemiological implications

Indotecan (LMP400) and AM13-55: Two Novel Indenoisoquinolines Show Potential for Treating Visceral Leishmaniasis

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