Overexpression of Iron Super Oxide Dismutases A/B Genes Are Associated with Antimony Resistance of Leishmania tropica Clinical Isolates

Pentavalent antimonial has been a drug of choice against leishmaniasis, despite the emergence of treatment failure. Identification of resistance markers is urgently needed to design new therapeutic strategies. Iron-Superoxide dismutases (Fe-SODs) are antioxidant enzymes contributing to detoxify reactive oxygen species to prevent a cell from oxidative stress. Since antimonial compounds induce oxidative stress, in this survey, the expression of genes was investigated to identify their expression pattern in clinical resistant isolates. This cross-sectional survey was done in Mashhad City, northeast of Iran during 2014 to 2019. The RNA expression level of mitochondrial ( ) and glycosomal ( ) superoxide dismutase was investigated in 25 antimony responsive (n=15) and unresponsive (n=10) anthroponotic cutaneous leishmaniasis (ACL) patients. Total RNA extraction and cDNA synthesis, the qRT-PCR approach was utilized to investigate the relative RNA expression level. The transcript level of s was over-expressed in the most resistant isolates. Gene expression analysis demonstrated the over-expression of and B by a factor of 3.8 and 4.81, respectively, in resistance isolates vs. sensitive ones. Aberrant expression of in unresponsive parasites could potentially implicate in detoxifying antimony-induced oxidative stress. Moreover, s might be considered as potential predictive markers of the response to antimonials in ACL patients in endemic areas.