Tehran University of Medical Sciences Iranian Journal of Parasitology 1735-7020 5 1 2010 03 15 23 34 EN J Saki Department of Medical Parasitology and Mycology, Faculty of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran AND Department of Medical Parasitology and Mycology, Faculty of Medicine, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran AR Meamar Department of Medical Parasitology and Mycology, Faculty of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran H Oormazdi Department of Medical Parasitology and Mycology, Faculty of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran L Akhlaghi Department of Medical Parasitology and Mycology, Faculty of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran S Maraghi Department of Medical Parasitology and Mycology, Faculty of Medicine, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran M Mohebali Department of Medical Parasitology and Mycology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran S Khademvatan Department of Medical Parasitology and Mycology, Faculty of Medicine, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran E Razmjou Department of Medical Parasitology and Mycology, Faculty of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran 2015 10 03 Background: Leishmaniasis is a protozoan disease cause by Leishmania genus. Anthroponotic and zoono­tic cutaneous leishmaniasis are endemic in Iran. The aim of this study was to identify the causative agent of cutaneous leishmaniasis by mini-exon gene in five regions of Khuzestan Province, southwest of Iran. Methods: From 2007 to 2008 in this cross-sectional study, cutaneous samples were collected from patients referred to Health Centers and Hospitals of the Khuzestan Province for cutaneous leishmaniasis diagnosis and cultured in Novy-MacNeal-Nicolle (NNN) and RPMI 1640. The propagated promastigotes were harvested and Leishmania species of cutaneous leishmaniasis were identified by RFLP and DNA sequencing of the PCR generated fragments. Results: L. major and L. tropica were the causative agents of cutaneous leishmaniasis by predomi­nantly of L. major species. The alignment of the mini-exon sequencing isolates with re­ported sequencing of L. major and L. tropica revealed 92%-99% identity. Conclusion: Our study showed that mini-exon PCR-RFLP was useful method to identify the causa­tive species of cutaneous leishmaniasis. https://ijpa.tums.ac.ir/index.php/ijpa/article/view/123 https://ijpa.tums.ac.ir/index.php/ijpa/article/download/123/122