Detection of Leishmania braziliensis in naturally infected individual sandflies by the polymerase chain reaction

The natural infection of sandflies by Leishmania in wild-caught specimens was studied, using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-hybridization technique. The PCR was carried out using 2 oligonucleotides (primers 3J1 and 3J2) derived from a repetitive nuclear DNA sequence. The primers support the enzymatic amplification of a fragment of approximately 500 bp, present in the nuclear DNA of Leishmania braziliensis. The expected band was observed in 5 of 65 sandflies containing flagellates. After hybridization with a species-specific probe, we confirmed natural infection by L. braziliensis. The technique allowed the identification of Lutzomyia gomezi and Lu. panamensis as vectors of L. braziliensis in an endemic area of cutaneous leishmaniasis in Urama, Puerto Cabello district in Venezuela. As far as we are aware, this work constitutes the first report of natural infection of Lu. panamensis with L. braziliensis in the study area. We also demonstrate that PCR-hybridization is a suitable approach to establish the Leishmania-sandfly relationship and will be useful in epidemiological studies of leishmaniasis in endemic areas.