Investigation of the prevalence of LRV1 virus in clinical isolates of Leishmania (Viannia) spp. from patients with cutaneous leishmaniasis of a reference hospital

• Grant number: 19/02717-6
• Support type: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Effective date (Start): April 01, 2019
• Effective date (End): January 31, 2021
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Parasitology - Protozoology of Parasites
• Principal Investigator: Adriano Cappellazzo Coelho
• Grantee: Cristiele Saborito da Silva
• Home Institution: Instituto de Biologia (IB). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 16/21171-6 - Paromomycin for the treatment of Tegumentary Leishmaniasis: investigation in vitro, in vivo and in the identification of molecular markers associated with susceptibility and resistance, AP.JP

Abstract

Cutaneous leishmaniasis is a disease caused by protozoan parasites of the genus Leishmania. The disease can occur in four distinct forms: localized cutaneous, disseminated cutaneous, muco-cutaneous or diffuse cutaneous leishmaniasis. In Brazil, cutaneous leishmaniasis is caused mainly by the following species of the parasite: Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis, L. (V.) guyanensis and L. (Leishmania) amazonensis, the former is the most prevalent species in Brazil.LRV1 virus is a double stranded RNA virus found in species of the subgenus Viannia, mainly L. (V.) braziliensis and L. (V.) guyanensis. Recent studies in endemic areas in South America have shown a correlation between clinical treatment failure and the presence of Leishmania LRV1 virus in isolates of patients with cutaneous leishmaniasis treated with pentavalent antimonial and pentamidine. These data indicate that the presence of the LRV1 virus in the parasite is an important factor associated with therapeutic failure in the treatment of leishmaniasis and that the presence of the LRV1 virus may serve, for example, as an indicator for the use of alternative medicines such as paromomycin and miltefosine, which are not yet used in the chemotherapy of the disease in Brazil.In this research project, we propose to investigate the presence of LRV1 virus in Brazilian clinical isolates of the subgenus Viannia from patients with cutaneous leishmaniasis of the Institute of Infectology Emílio Ribas. The results obtained will allow to evaluate if the therapeutic failures in the treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis observed in these patients are correlated with the presence of the virus.