LEISHMANIA-(VIANNIA)-BRAZILIENSIS - COMPARATIVE PATHOLOGY OF GOLDEN-HAMSTERS INFECTED WITH ISOLATES FROM CUTANEOUS AND MUCOSAL LESIONS OF PATIENTS RESIDING IN TRES BRACOS, BAHIA, BRAZIL

The histopathology of primary forepaw and metastatic lymph node, spleen, and liver lesions produced in golden hamsters infected with cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) strains (LTB111 and LTB558) and mucocutaneous leishmaniasis (MCL) strains (LTB12 and LTB201) of Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis isolated from patients residing in Tres Bracos, Bahia, Brazil is described. No pathological features providing clear differentiation of the CL and MCL strains were found. Although amastigotes were plentiful early in the development of primary forepaw lesions, they were either absent or could not be identified with certainty in sections of late stage lesions. Similarly, amastigotes were not found in histologic lesions at metastatic sites; however, leishmanial DNA was detected in both early and late stage forepaw lesions and metastatic lesions using Leishmania kinetoplast DNA and the gene coding for gp63 as hybridization probes. The DNA recovered from metastatic lesions was extracted from formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissues that had been stored at room temperature for prolonged periods.