Serodiagnosis of cutaneous leishmaniasis in the Syrian Arab Republic

Objective: To evaluate the validity of western blot (WB) and enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) that use antigens from culture promastigote from Leishmania parasites, for laboratory diagnosis of cutaneous leishmaniasis in Syria. Methods: We utilized 290 serum samples from endemic areas (patients group) and other regions (control samples) in Syria during 2002-2005 and the serological testing was brought to the applied the serological tests at the Department of Animal Biology, Damascus University, Damascus, Syria. Results: Anti-Leishmania antibody was detected in 250 (92.5%) cases using the ELISA and 254 (94%) cases using the WB. It is also noted that this response can change according to the number of lesions. Conclusion: Results of this study showed that there was no significant difference between ELISA and WB, which are easy to perform. Thus, they can be used for diagnosing the cutaneous leishmaniasis in Syria.