Experimental infection of Leishmania (Mundinia) martiniquensis in BALB/c mice and Syrian golden hamsters.

Our objective was to investigate clinical progression, presence of parasites and DNAs, parasite loads, and histological alterations in BALB/c mice and Syrian golden hamsters after intraperitoneal inoculation with Leishmania (Mundinia) martiniquensis promastigotes with a goal to choosing an appropriate animal model for visceral leishmaniasis. Infections were monitored for 16 weeks. Infected BALB/c mice were asymptomatic during the infection course. Parasite DNAs were detected in the liver at week 8 of infection, followed by clearance in most animals at week 16; whereas in the spleen, parasite DNAs were detected until week 16. These results are correlated to those obtained measuring parasite loads in both organs. No parasite DNA and no alteration in the bone marrow were observed indicating that no dissemination occurred. These results suggest the control of visceralization of L. martiniquensis by BALB/c mice. In hamsters, weight loss, cachexia, and fatigue were observed after week 11. Leishmania martiniquensis parasites were observed in tissue smears of the liver, spleen, and bone marrow by week 16. Parasite loads correlated with those from the presence of parasites and DNAs in the examined tissues. Alterations in the liver with nuclear destruction and cytoplasmic degeneration of infected hepatocytes, presence of inflammatory infiltrates, necrosis of hepatocytes, and changes in splenic architecture and reduction and deformation of white pulp in the spleen were noted. These results indicate a chronic form of visceral leishmaniasis indicating that the hamster is a suitable animal model for the study of pathological features of chronic visceral leishmaniasis caused by L. martiniquensis.

Axenic amastigote cultivation and in vitro development of Leishmania orientalis.

Leishmania (Mundinia) orientalis is a recently described new species that causes leishmaniasis in Thailand. To facilitate characterization of this new species, an in vitro culture system to generate L. orientalis axenic amastigotes was developed. In vitro culture conditions of the axenic culture-derived amastigotes were optimized by manipulation of temperature and pH. Four criteria were used to evaluate the resulting L. orientalis axenic amastigotes, i.e., morphology, zymographic analysis of nucleases, cyclic transformation, and infectivity to the human monocytic cell line (THP-1) cells. Results revealed that the best culture condition for L. orientalis axenic amastigotes was Grace's insect medium supplemented with FCS 20%, 2% human urine, 1% BME vitamins, and 25 µg/ml gentamicin sulfate, pH 5.5 at 35 °C. For promastigotes, the condition was M199 medium, 10% FCS supplemented with 2% human urine, 1% BME vitamins, and 25 µg/ml gentamicin sulfate, pH 6.8 at 26 °C. Morphological characterization revealed six main stages of the parasites including amastigotes, procyclic promastigotes, nectomonad promastigotes, leptomonad promastigotes, metacyclic promastigotes, and paramastigotes. Also, changes in morphology during the cycle were accompanied by changes in zymographic profiles of nucleases. The developmental cycle of L. orientalis in vitro was complete in 12 days using both culture systems. The infectivity to THP-1 macrophages and intracellular growth of the axenic amastigotes was similar to that of THP-1 derived intracellular amastigotes. These results confirmed the successful axenic cultivation of L. orientalis amastigotes. The axenic amastigotes and promastigotes can be used for further study on infection in permissive vectors and animals.

Analysis of Leishmania mimetic neoglycoproteins for the cutaneous leishmaniasis diagnosis.

Oligosaccharides are broadly present on Leishmania cell surfaces. They can be useful for the leishmaniases diagnosis and also helpful in identifying new cell markers for the disease. The disaccharide Galα1-3Galß is the immunodominant saccharide in Leishmania cell surface and is the unique non-reducing terminal glycosphingolipids structure recognized by anti-α-Gal. This study describes an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) used to measure serum levels of anti-α-galactosyl (α-Gal) antibodies in patients with cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL). Optimal ELISA conditions were established and two neoglycoproteins (NGP) containing the Galα1-3Gal terminal fraction (Galα1-3Galß1-4GlcNAc-HAS and Galα1-3Gal-HAS) and one Galα1-3Gal NGP analogue (Galα1-3Galß1-3GlcNAc-HAS) were used as antigens. Means of anti-α-Gal antibody titres of CL patients were significantly higher (P < 0.05) than the healthy individuals for all NGPs tested. Sensitivity and specificity of all NGPs ranged from 62.2 to 78.4% and 58.3 to 96.7%, respectively. In conclusion, the NGPs can be used for CL diagnosis.

Chromosome-Scale Assembly of the Complete Genome Sequence of Leishmania (Mundinia) procaviensis Isolate 253, Strain LV425.

Leishmania (Mundinia) procaviensis is a parasitic kinetoplastid that was first isolated from a rock hyrax in Namibia in 1975. We present the complete genome sequence of Leishmania (Mundinia) procaviensis isolate 253, strain LV425, sequenced using combined short- and long-read technologies. This genome will contribute to our understanding of hyraxes as a Leishmania reservoir.

Molecular identification of two newly identified human pathogens causing leishmaniasis using PCR-based methods on the 3' untranslated region of the heat shock protein 70 (type I) gene.

PCR-based methods to amplify the 3' untranslated region (3'-UTR) of the heat shock protein 70 (type I) gene (HSP70-I) have previously been used for typing of Leishmania but not with Leishmania (Mundinia) martiniquensis and L. (Mundinia) orientalis, newly identified human pathogens. Here, the 3'-UTRs of HSP70-I of L. martiniquensis, L. orientalis, and 10 other species were sequenced and analyzed. PCR-Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (RFLP) analysis targeting the 3'-UTR of HSP70-I was developed. Also, the detection limit of HSP70-I-3'-UTR PCR methods was compared with two other commonly used targets: the 18S small subunit ribosomal RNA (SSU-rRNA) gene and the internal transcribed spacer 1 region of the rRNA (ITS1-rRNA) gene. Results showed that HSP70-I-3'-UTR PCR methods could be used to identify and differentiate between L. martiniquensis (480-2 bp) and L. orientalis (674 bp) and distinguished them from parasites of the subgenus Viannia and of the subgenus Leishmania. PCR-RFLP patterns of the 3'-UTR of HSP70-I fragments digested with BsuRI restriction enzyme successfully differentiated L. martiniquensis, L. orientalis, L. braziliensis, L. guyanensis = L. panamensis, L. mexicana = L. aethiopica = L. tropica, L. amazonensis, L. major, and L. donovani = L. infantum. For the detection limit, the HSP70-I-3'-UTR PCR method could detect the DNA of L. martiniquensis and L. orientalis at the same concentration, 1 pg/µL, at a similar level to the SSU-rRNA PCR. The PCR that amplified ITS1-rRNA was more sensitive (0.01 pg/µL) than that of the HSP70-I-3'-UTR PCR. However, the sizes of both SSU-rRNA and ITS1-rRNA PCR amplicons could not differentiate between L. martiniquensis and L. orientalis. This is the first report of using HSP70-I-3'-UTR PCR based methods to identify the parasites causing leishmaniasis in Thailand. Also, the BsuRI-PCR-RFLP method can be used for differentiating some species within other subgenera.

Chromosome-Scale Assembly of the Complete Genome Sequence of Porcisia hertigi, Isolate C119, Strain LV43.

Porcisia hertigi is a parasitic kinetoplastid first isolated from porcupines (Coendou rothschildi) in central Panama in 1965. We present the complete genome sequence of P. hertigi, isolate C119, strain LV43, sequenced using combined short- and long-read technologies. This complete genome sequence will contribute to our knowledge of the parasitic genus Porcisia.

Chromosome-Scale Assembly of the Complete Genome Sequence of Leishmania (Mundinia) martiniquensis, Isolate LSCM1, Strain LV760.

Leishmania (Mundinia) martiniquensis is a kinetoplastid parasite that was first isolated in 1995 on Martinique. We report the first complete genome for Leishmania martiniquensis from Asia, isolate LSCM1, strain LV760, which was sequenced using combined short-read and long-read technologies. This will facilitate greater understanding of the evolution of the geographically dispersed subgenus Mundinia.

Chromosome-Scale Assembly of the Complete Genome Sequence of Leishmania (Mundinia) orientalis, Isolate LSCM4, Strain LV768.

Leishmania (Mundinia) orientalis is a kinetoplastid parasite first isolated in 2014 in Thailand. We report the complete genome sequence of L. (M.) orientalis, sequenced using combined short-read and long-read technologies. This will facilitate greater understanding of this novel pathogen and its relationship to other members of the subgenus Mundinia.

Chromosome-scale genome sequencing, assembly and annotation of six genomes from subfamily Leishmaniinae.

We provide the raw and processed data produced during the genome sequencing of isolates from six species of parasites from the sub-family Leishmaniinae: Leishmania martiniquensis (Thailand), Leishmania orientalis (Thailand), Leishmania enriettii (Brazil), Leishmania sp. Ghana, Leishmania sp. Namibia and Porcisia hertigi (Panama). De novo assembly was performed using Nanopore long reads to construct chromosome backbone scaffolds. We then corrected erroneous base calling by mapping short Illumina paired-end reads onto the initial assembly. Data has been deposited at NCBI as follows: raw sequencing output in the Sequence Read Archive, finished genomes in GenBank, and ancillary data in BioSample and BioProject. Derived data such as quality scoring, SAM files, genome annotations and repeat sequence lists have been deposited in Lancaster University's electronic data archive with DOIs provided for each item. Our coding workflow has been deposited in GitHub and Zenodo repositories. This data constitutes a resource for the comparative genomics of parasites and for further applications in general and clinical parasitology.

LGAAP: Leishmaniinae Genome Assembly and Annotation Pipeline.

We present the LGAAP computational pipeline, which was successfully used to assemble six genomes of the parasite subfamily Leishmaniinae to chromosome-scale completeness from a combination of long- and short-read sequencing data. LGAAP is open source, and we suggest that it may easily be ported for assembly of any genome of comparable size (∼35 Mb).

Chromosome-Scale Assembly of the Complete Genome Sequence of Leishmania (Mundinia) sp. Ghana, Isolate GH5, Strain LV757.

Leishmania (Mundinia) sp. Ghana is a kinetoplastid parasite isolated in 2015 in Ghana. We report the complete genome sequence of L. (M.) sp. Ghana, sequenced using combined short-read and long-read technologies. This will facilitate greater understanding of this novel pathogen and its relationships within the subgenus Mundinia.

Chromosome-Scale Assembly of the Complete Genome Sequence of Leishmania (Mundinia) enriettii, Isolate CUR178, Strain LV763.

Leishmania (Mundinia) enriettii is a parasitic kinetoplastid first isolated from a guinea pig in Brazil in 1946. We present the complete genome sequence of L. (M.) enriettii, isolate CUR178, strain LV763, sequenced using combined short-read and long-read technologies. This will facilitate a greater understanding of the genome diversity within L. (M.) enriettii.

Antileishmanial Activity and Synergistic Effects of Amphotericin B Deoxycholate with Allicin and Andrographolide against Leishmania martiniquensis In Vitro.

Leishmania (Mundinia) martiniquensis is a causative agent of visceral leishmaniasis, but in HIV-infected patients both visceral and disseminated cutaneous leishmaniasis are presented. Recurrence of the disease after treatment has been reported in some cases indicating that improved chemotherapy is required. In this study, the susceptibility of L. martiniquensis to Amphotericin B deoxycholate (AmB), allicin, and andrographolide was evaluated and the synergistic effects of allicin or andrographolide combined with AmB against L. martiniquensis intracellular amastigotes in mouse peritoneal exudate macrophages (PEMs) were investigated in vitro for the first time. The results showed that L. martiniquensis was highly susceptible to AmB as expected, but allicin and andrographolide had selectivity index (SI) values greater than 10, indicating promise in both compounds for treatment of host cells infected with L. martiniquensis. Four AmB/allicin combinations presented combination index (CI) values less than 1 (0.58-0.68) for intracellular amastigotes indicating synergistic effects. The combination with the highest dose reduction index (DRI) allowed an approximately four-fold reduction of AmB use in that combination. No synergistic effects were observed in AmB/andrographolide combinations. The data provided in this study leads for further study to develop novel therapeutic agents and improve the treatment outcome for leishmaniasis caused by this Leishmania species.

Artificial Intelligence-Assisted Loop Mediated Isothermal Amplification (AI-LAMP) for Rapid Detection of SARS-CoV-2.

Until vaccines and effective therapeutics become available, the practical solution to transit safely out of the current coronavirus disease 19 (CoVID-19) lockdown may include the implementation of an effective testing, tracing and tracking system. However, this requires a reliable and clinically validated diagnostic platform for the sensitive and specific identification of SARS-CoV-2. Here, we report on the development of a de novo, high-resolution and comparative genomics guided reverse-transcribed loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay. To further enhance the assay performance and to remove any subjectivity associated with operator interpretation of results, we engineered a novel hand-held smart diagnostic device. The robust diagnostic device was further furnished with automated image acquisition and processing algorithms and the collated data was processed through artificial intelligence (AI) pipelines to further reduce the assay run time and the subjectivity of the colorimetric LAMP detection. This advanced AI algorithm-implemented LAMP (ai-LAMP) assay, targeting the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase gene, showed high analytical sensitivity and specificity for SARS-CoV-2. A total of ~200 coronavirus disease (CoVID-19)-suspected NHS patient samples were tested using the platform and it was shown to be reliable, highly specific and significantly more sensitive than the current gold standard qRT-PCR. Therefore, this system could provide an efficient and cost-effective platform to detect SARS-CoV-2 in resource-limited laboratories.

Development of Leishmania orientalis in the sand fly Lutzomyia longipalpis (Diptera: Psychodidae) and the biting midge Culicoides soronensis (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae).

Leishmania (Mundinia) orientalis is a newly described species causing human leishmaniasis in Thailand whose natural vector is unknown. L. orientalis infections in sand flies and/or biting midges under laboratory conditions have not been previously investigated. In this study, the development of L. orientalis in two experimental vectors, Lutzomyia longipalpis sand flies and Culicoides sonorensis biting midges was investigated for the first time using light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and histological examination. The results showed that L. orientalis was unable to establish infection in Lu. longipalpis. No parasites were found in the sand fly gut 4 days post-infected blood meal (PIBM). In contrast, the parasite successfully established infection in C. sonorensis. The parasites differentiated from amastigotes to procyclic promastigotes in the abdominal midgut (AMG) on day 1 PIBM. On day 2 PIBM, nectomonad promastigotes were observed in the AMG and migrated to the thoracic midgut (TMG). Leptomonad promastigotes appeared at the TMG on day 3 PIBM. Clusters of leptomonad promastigotes and metacyclic promastigotes colonized around the stomodeal valve with the accumulation of a promastigote secretory gel-like material from day 3 PIBM onwards. Haptomonad-like promastigotes were observed from day 5 PIBM, and the proportion of metacyclic promastigotes reached 23% on day 7 PIBM. The results suggest that biting midges or other sand fly genera or species might be vectors of L. orientalis.

Production of a kinesin-related recombinant protein (Lbk39) from Leishmania braziliensis by Leishmania tarentolae promastigotes and its application in the serodiagnosis of leishmaniasis.

The leishmaniases are multifactorial zoonotic diseases requiring a multidisciplinary One Health approach for diagnosis and control. For leishmaniasis diagnosis, here we describe production of a new recombinant protein based on a kinesin-related gene of Leishmania braziliensis (Lbk39), which shows 59% amino acid identity to the L. infantum homologue. The Lbk39 gene was synthesized, inserted into the pLEXSY-sat2 vector and transfected into L. tarentolae cells by electroporation. Culturing was carried out, and the secreted recombinant protein with a C-terminal histidine tag purified using nickel affinity chromatography on the culture supernatant, yielding a final product at 0.4 mg/mL. An indirect enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was standardised using sera from 74 Brazilian patients with cutaneous leishmaniasis and 11 with visceral leishmaniasis. Optimal ELISA conditions were established for the Lbk39 antigen in comparison with a crude extract from L. braziliensis. The sensitivity, specificity analysis and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve were determined with a significance level of 5%. The ROC curve showed a good accuracy with an area under curve (AUC) = 0.967, p < 0.001 (0.941-0.993) for CL patients and an AUC = 100 (100-100) for VL patients. The values of sensitivity and specificity were 88 and 98% for CL and 100 and 100% for VL, respectively. The study showed good production and expression of the target protein and has generated a potential new antigen for the diagnosis of leishmaniasis.

Phenytoin but not valproate directly affected in vitro trophoblast differentiation.

OBJECTIVE: Epilepsy has been associated with poor obstetric outcomes that could be the result of the epilepsy itself or a direct effect of anti-epileptic medication on placentation. The aim of this study was to investigate any direct effect of anti-epileptic drugs on an established, in vitro bioassay of trophoblast differentiation. STUDY DESIGN: Primary extravillous trophoblast cells were cultured in the presence of phenytoin and sodium valproate at a range of concentrations with appropriate solvent controls. The formation of multinuclear giant cells was used as a marker of trophoblast differentiation. RESULTS: Phenytoin inhibited giant multinuclear cell formation in a dose-dependent manner; in contrast sodium valproate had no effect (p=0.011). CONCLUSIONS: This study found that two anti-epileptic medications induced different effects on an in vitro trophoblast bioassay, suggesting that further research should be aimed at elucidating which anti-epileptic medication is most suitable for pregnant women.

Leishmania (Mundinia) orientalis n. sp. (Trypanosomatidae), a parasite from Thailand responsible for localised cutaneous leishmaniasis.

BACKGROUND: Leishmaniasis is an emerging disease in Thailand with an unknown incidence or prevalence. Although the number of properly characterized and clinically confirmed cases is about 20, it is suspected that this low number masks a potentially high prevalence, with clinical disease typically manifesting itself against an immunocompromised background, but with a substantial number of subclinical or cured cases of infection. To date leishmaniasis in Thailand has been mainly ascribed to two taxa within the recently erected subgenus Mundinia Shaw, Camargo & Teixeira, 2016, Leishmania (Mundinia) martiniquensis Desbois, Pratlong & Dedet, 2014 and a species that has not been formally described prior to this study. RESULTS: A case of simple cutaneous leishmaniasis was diagnosed in a patient from Nan Province, Thailand. Molecular analysis of parasites derived from a biopsy sample revealed this to be a new species of Leishmania Ross, 1908, which has been named as Leishmania (Mundinia) orientalis Bates & Jariyapan n. sp. A formal description is provided, and this new taxon supercedes some isolates from the invalid taxon "Leishmania siamensis". A summary of all known cases of leishmaniasis with a corrected species identification is provided. CONCLUSIONS: Three species of parasites are now known to cause leishmaniasis is Thailand, L. martiniquensis and L. orientalis n. sp. in the subgenus Mundinia, which contains the type-species Leishmania enriettii Muniz & Medina, 1948, and a single case of Leishmania infantum Nicolle, 1908. This study now enables epidemiological and other investigations into the biology of these unusual parasites to be conducted. It is recommended that the use of the taxonomically invalid name "L. siamensis" should be discontinued.

First isolation of a new species of Leishmania responsible for human cutaneous leishmaniasis in Ghana and classification in the Leishmania enriettii complex.

An active case detection approach with PCR diagnosis was used in the Ho District of the Volta Region, Ghana that identified individuals with active cutaneous leishmaniasis. Three isolates were successfully cultured and DNA sequences from these were analysed (ribosomal RNA internal transcribed spacer 1; ribosomal protein L23a intergenic spacer; RNA polymerase II large subunit), showing them to be Leishmania, identical to each other but different from all other known Leishmania spp. Phylogenetic analysis showed the parasites to be new members of the Leishmania enriettii complex, which is emerging as a possible new subgenus of Leishmania parasites containing human pathogens.

First isolation of Leishmania from Northern Thailand: case report, identification as Leishmania martiniquensis and phylogenetic position within the Leishmania enriettii complex.

Since 1996, there have been several case reports of autochthonous visceral leishmaniasis in Thailand. Here we report a case in a 52-year-old Thai male from northern Thailand, who presented with subacute fever, huge splenomegaly and pancytopenia. Bone marrow aspiration revealed numerous amastigotes within macrophages. Isolation of Leishmania LSCM1 into culture and DNA sequence analysis (ribosomal RNA ITS-1 and large subunit of RNA polymerase II) revealed the parasites to be members of the Leishmania enriettii complex, and apparently identical to L. martiniquensis previously reported from the Caribbean island of Martinique. This is the first report of visceral leishmaniasis caused by L. martiniquensis from the region. Moreover, the majority of parasites previously identified as "L. siamensis" also appear to be L. martiniquensis.