Tehran University of Medical Sciences Iranian Journal of Parasitology 1735-7020 12 2 2017 06 13 215 223 Mohammad Ali MOHAMMADI Research Center for Hydatid Disease in Iran, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran Mehdi BAMOROVAT Leishmaniasis Research Center, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran Majid FASIHI HARANDI Leishmaniasis Research Center, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran Tayyebeh KARIMI Dept. of Medical Parasitology, School of Medicine, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran Iraj SHARIFI Leishmaniasis Research Center, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran Mohammad Reza AFLATOONIAN Research Center for Tropical and Infectious Diseases, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran 2017 06 12 2017 06 12 Background: To compare three molecular methods, PCR-RFLP for internal transcribed spacer, PCR sequencing and high resolution melting analysis shown reliable sensitivity and specificity for detecting Leishmania tropica as a model for cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) as the perspective overview for scientific and economic approaches. Methods: This study was carried out between 2015 and 2016 in Leishmaniasis Research Center in Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran. The positives smears (n=50) were obtained from patients referred from the health clinics in a major anthroponotic CL (ACL) focus, southeastern Iran. Only smear preparations with the same grade were selected according to the method described by the WHO for future PCR assays. Results: All three molecular methods had capability to identify positive samples at species level with the same specificity and sensitivity. However, these techniques were different in simplicity, consuming time, and cost effectiveness. Although additional enzymatic process in PCR-RFLP provided good resolution to find Leishmania species but this would cause time and cost increases. Conclusion: HRM (high resolution melting) is a relatively new technique that allows direct characterization of PCR amplicons in a closed system with more simplicity, cost effectiveness and time-consuming compared with other PCR-based assays for epidemiological or clinical identification purposes. https://ijpa.tums.ac.ir/index.php/ijpa/article/view/1628 https://ijpa.tums.ac.ir/index.php/ijpa/article/download/1628/734