Resumen de Characterization of cutaneous isolates of Leishmania in Colombia by isoenzyme typing and kDNA restriction analysis

J. Urbano, M. Sánchez-Moreno, C.E. E. Ovalle, María José Rosales Lombardo, Y. C. Camargo, Ramón Gutiérrez Sánchez , Clotilde Marín Sánchez

• In Colombia, leishmaniasis is an endemic disease for which efforts are currently being made to establish the geographic distribution and identifi cation of the species circulating in the country. Sixteen stocks of Leishmania isolated from patients of the National Dermatology Institute of Bogotá (Colombia) have been characterized by means of isoenzymatic characterization and kDNA analysis by restriction enzymes. These isolates were compared with 8 reference stocks: L. braziliensis, L. guyanensis, L. panamensis, L. mexicana, L. amazonensis, L. colombiensis, L. peruviana, and L. chagasi. The statistical study of the results gave 3 clusters. The dominant species was L. panamensis, with 44% and distributed throughout the country, followed by L. amazonensis with 25%, distributed preferentially along the Pacifi c coast and to the south of the country. L. braziliensis, with 19%, was distributed mainly in the centre and east of the country, while 12% remained undetermined. None of the isolates were identifi ed as belonging to L. mexicana.