stereological analysis bone of hamsters with experimental infection of live attenuated leishmania major

Leishmaniasis is one of the important health problems of many countries around the world. the histopathological characteristics of the disease and the repercussions of the parasite on diverse tissues are still not completely understood. the aim of this study was to assess the stereological aspects of the bone in hamsters infected with live attenuated leishmania major and subsequently challenged with leishmania infantum. in this experimental study, attenuated l. major (mrho/ir/75/er) was prepared by continuous sub-culturing of the parasite. then, 24 golden hamsters were assigned into 4 groups. group 1 was the control groups, group 2 were injected with 1 × 108 promastigotes of attenuated l. major intradermally, group 2 were received intravenously and group 4 were inoculated intraperitoneally. four months later, the hamsters were euthanized and impression smears were prepared from the bon. the orientated method was used to obtain isotropic uniform random (iur) sections. the tissue samples were examined by stereological methods and all changes in the samples of the infected hamsters were compared with the control group. the total volume of trabecular of the femur in the l. infantum infected hamsters was decreased significantly while the total volume of the bone increased. moreover, the total number of osteocytes in the l. infantum infected group was non-significantly increased. compared to the control group, the total number of osteocytes in the l. infantum infected group increased, but this difference was not statistically significant (p > 0.05). as bone is one of the main niches of l. infantum, alteration in components and architecture of this tissue is expected. such studies are recommended for better understanding and treatment of vl.