Leishmania species

Paul G. Auwaerter, M.D.
Leishmania species is a topic covered in the Johns Hopkins HIV Guide.

To view the entire topic, please or .

Official website of the Johns Hopkins Antibiotic (ABX), HIV, Diabetes, and Psychiatry Guides, powered by Unbound Medicine. Johns Hopkins Guide App for iOS, iPhone, iPad, and Android included. Explore these free sample topics:

-- The first section of this topic is shown below --

MICROBIOLOGY

  • Protozoan parasite, HIV increases the risk of visceral (hepatosplenic and bone marrow) disease but not cutaneous or mucocutaneous disease.
  • Transmitted by sand fly vectors [Fig 1]. Also may be acquired through shared needles among IDUs, primarily in endemic urban settings.
    • Zoonosis: reservoirs
      • Canine: L. infantum, L. chagasi
      • Anthroponotic: L. donovani
  • Forms:
    • Visceral leishmaniasis: L. donovani (Asia), L. infantum (southern Europe, Mediterranean), L. chagasi (Brazil).
    • Cutaneous leishmaniasis: L. major and L. tropica (Old World), L. mexicana, L. amazonensis, L. peruviana, L. guyanensis (New World), L. (viania) braziliensis (cutaneous and mucocutaneous)
  • Amastigote forms are seen within macrophages; flagellated promastigote forms seen in cultures, transmitted from insect vector.
  • Leishmania and HIV co-localize in similar cells (macrophages, dendritic cells) resulting in additive immune dysfunction, especially in macrophages leading to increased immune activation.

-- To view the remaining sections of this topic, please or --

MICROBIOLOGY

  • Protozoan parasite, HIV increases the risk of visceral (hepatosplenic and bone marrow) disease but not cutaneous or mucocutaneous disease.
  • Transmitted by sand fly vectors [Fig 1]. Also may be acquired through shared needles among IDUs, primarily in endemic urban settings.
    • Zoonosis: reservoirs
      • Canine: L. infantum, L. chagasi
      • Anthroponotic: L. donovani
  • Forms:
    • Visceral leishmaniasis: L. donovani (Asia), L. infantum (southern Europe, Mediterranean), L. chagasi (Brazil).
    • Cutaneous leishmaniasis: L. major and L. tropica (Old World), L. mexicana, L. amazonensis, L. peruviana, L. guyanensis (New World), L. (viania) braziliensis (cutaneous and mucocutaneous)
  • Amastigote forms are seen within macrophages; flagellated promastigote forms seen in cultures, transmitted from insect vector.
  • Leishmania and HIV co-localize in similar cells (macrophages, dendritic cells) resulting in additive immune dysfunction, especially in macrophages leading to increased immune activation.

There's more to see -- the rest of this entry is available only to subscribers.

Last updated: May 10, 2021