DNA identification of Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis in human saliva from a patient with American cutaneous leishmaniasis

This study aims to report the amplification of the dna of leishmania (v.) braziliensis,using polymerase chain reaction,obtained from the saliva of a patient with american cutaneous leishmaniasis who did not present any lesion in the oral mucosa. amplification produced fragments of 103 bp,an estimated size employing leishmania (v.) braziliensis primers (b1 e b2). the present results revealed,for the first time,that the in vitro amplification of leishmania dna using samples from the salivary fluid of a patient with american cutaneous leishmaniasis is possible. however,more studies are required with a larger number of participants to evaluate the usefulness of saliva as a non-invasive sample for pcr. the development of such non-invasive technique is necessary for the diagnosis of many diseases in the future,especially infectious and parasitic ones. © cevap 2011.