Identification of Leishmania (Viannia) species and clinical isolates of Leishmania (Leishmania) amazonensis from Brazil using PCR-RFLP of the heat-shock protein 70 gene reveals some unexpected observations

Hsp70 is a cytoplasmic heat-shock protein, encoded by a multicopy tandemly repeated gene that has recently been gaining popularity as a valuable marker for typing Leish mania species. In this study, we used a previously described hsp70 PCR-RFLP method for identifying Brazilian Leishmania isolates. We identified two distinct L (L) amazonensis hsp70 alleles that resulted in two different RFLP patterns. Also, we found RFLP polymorphisms amongst L (Viannia) naiffi strains. The profiles of both L (V.) shawi and L (V.) lindenbergi were very similar to those of other L (Viannia) species. The observations described herein reflect the polymorphism found within species of Leishmania and indicate that results from this hsp70 PCR-RFLP method should be used with caution when typing isolates from clinical cases of leishmaniasis and Leishmania species from Brazil. (C) 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.