Leishmania (Viannia): genetic analysis of cutaneous and mucosal strains isolated from the same patient.

Ten pairs of Leishmania (Viannia) strains isolated from mucosal and cutaneous lesions of the same patient were analyzed genotypically in order to determine whether populations that had metastasized to mucosal sites differed from those in the cutaneous lesion. The strains were previously characterized by multi locus enzyme electrophoresis and/or monoclonal antibodies reactivity, and, for this study, only isolates from the same patient which were identified as the same species were employed. PCR-RFLP of internal transcribed spacer (ITS) rDNA, random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD), and schizodeme analyses were conducted. All genotyping methods revealed microheterogeneity between cutaneous and mucosal isolates from the same patient. The PCR-RFLP of the ITS rDNA and RAPD analysis were numerically analyzed through similarity coefficients and dendrograms were generated. All phenograms clustered cutaneous and mucosal strains of the same patient in one branch with a high degree of similarity, and phenetic analysis matched between them. Schizodeme analysis revealed differences between strains that composed some pairs. Genetic analyses indicate that some populations that metastasize to mucosal sites are distinguishable from the population in cutaneous lesions, however, other approaches will be required to associate genetic polymorphisms with the cutaneous or mucosal phenotype of strains.