Tehran University of Medical Sciences Iranian Journal of Parasitology 1735-7020 5 4 2010 12 15 1 8 EN B Pourmohammadi Dept. of Parasitology and Mycology, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran AND Damghan School of Health, Semnan University of Medical Sciences, Semnan, Iran MH Motazedian Dept. of Parasitology and Mycology, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran GR Hatam Dept. of Parasitology and Mycology, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran M Kalantari Dept. of Parasitology and Mycology, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran P Habibi Dept. of Parasitology and Mycology, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran B Sarkari Dept. of Parasitology and Mycology, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran 2015 10 03 Background: Leishmaniasis is one of the infectious parasitic diseases of highest incidence in the world. Cutaneous Leishmaniasis (CL) has long been reported in Shiraz, Southern Iran. There is a need to find a sensitive and specific method for treatment and control of the disease. Methods: We have compared the sensitivity of the conventional methods microscopy and cultiva­tion of lesion scrapes against PCR amplification of parasite kinetoplast DNA from these sam­ples. The samples (n=219) were obtained from the patients clinically suspected of CL. The smears were stained with Giemsa for microscopy and cultured in Novy-Nicolle-McNeal (NNN) blood agar for promastigote growth. For PCR, the dry smears were scraped off the slides and DNA was extracted. Results: The positive rates from 219 specimens were 76.71%, 50.68%, and 93.61% for micros­copy, cultivation, and PCR, respectively. The highest correlation was found between PCR and micros­copy method (P= 0.014). In PCR assay, 95.61%, 3.9%, and 0.49% of the samples were identi­fied as Leishmania major, L. tropica, and dermatropic L. infantum, respectively. Conclusion: The PCR method appears to be the most sensitive for the diagnosis of CL and is valu­able for identifying the other species of Leishmania with confusing dermatropic signs. https://ijpa.tums.ac.ir/index.php/ijpa/article/view/150 https://ijpa.tums.ac.ir/index.php/ijpa/article/download/150/149