Investigation of Leishmania RNA Virus 2 in Leishmania major and Leishmania tropica Strains Isolated from Cutaneous Leishmaniasis Patients in Turkiye

Leishmania RNA virus (LRV) is a double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) virus that is thought to contribute to the severe inflammatory response of the causative Leishmania parasite in the mammalian host by being present in many isolates of Leishmania spp. In our study, it was aimed to obtain data on the presence of Leishmania RNA Virus 2 (LRV2), which is thought to cause a change in the clinical course of leishmaniasis, in Leishmania major and Leishmania tropica isolates isolated from cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) patients in Turkiye. Leishmania strains stored in liquid nitrogen tank by cryopreservation in Manisa Celal Bayar University Faculty of Medicine Parasite Bank were resuscitated under suitable conditions and cultivated in NNN and RPMI-1640 media. Then, the isolates were allowed to enter the logarithmic phase in a 26 degrees C incubator and DNA isolations were made using the "High Pure PCR Template Preparation Kit". Real-time polymerase chain reaction (Rt-PCR) melting analyzes were applied to the DNAs obtained by using primers and probes specific to the internal transcribed spacer-1 (ITS-1) gene region of Leishmania. After RNA isolation from promastigote suspension, cDNA synthesis was performed by reverse transcription. After gel electrophoresis with PCR amplification products, dsRNA band formation was evaluated in terms of LRV2 positivity under ultraviolet light. Among the 20 examined Leishmania spp. isolates (10 L.tropica and 10 L.major), four (three L.tropica, one L.major) were found to be positive for the presence of LRV2. Although the mechanism of LRV in recent studies has not been fully understood, it is known that it exacerbates the clinic of the disease and even has an effect on the formation of drug resistance by the parasite. It is important to obtain data on the presence of LRV in our country and to contribute to various clinical, drug development, prevalence studies, diagnosis and treatment of the disease in the future.