Leishmania donovani

Leishmania donovani
"Leishmania donovani" in bone marrow cell
Leishmania donovani in bone marrow cell
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Phylum: Euglenozoa
Class: Kinetoplastea
Order: Trypanosomatida
Genus: Leishmania
Species:
L. donovani
Binomial name
Leishmania donovani
(Laveran et Mesnil, 1903) Ross, 1903
Synonyms
  • Leishmania archibaldi (invalid subgroup)[1]

Leishmania donovani is a species of intracellular parasites belonging to the genus Leishmania, a group of haemoflagellate kinetoplastids that cause the disease leishmaniasis. It is a human blood parasite responsible for visceral leishmaniasis or kala-azar, the most severe form of leishmaniasis. It infects the mononuclear phagocyte system including spleen, liver and bone marrow. Infection is transmitted by species of sandfly belonging to the genus Phlebotomus in Old World and Lutzomyia in New World. The species complex it represents is prevalent throughout tropical and temperate regions including Africa (mostly in Sudan), China, India, Nepal, southern Europe, Russia and South America.[2][3][4] The species complex is responsible for thousands of deaths every year and has spread to 88 countries, with 350 million people at constant risk of infection and 0.5 million new cases in a year.[5]

L. donovani was independently discovered by two British medical officers William Boog Leishman in Netley, England, and Charles Donovan in Madras, India, in 1903. However, the correct taxonomy was provided by Ronald Ross. The parasite requires two different hosts for a complete life cycle, humans as the definitive host and sandflies as the intermediate host. In some parts of the world other mammals, especially canines, act as reservoir hosts. In human cell they exist as small, spherical and unflagellated amastigote form; while they are elongated with flagellum as promastigote form in sandflies. Unlike other parasitic protists they are unable to directly penetrate the host cell, and are dependent upon phagocytosis.[6][7] The whole genome sequence of L. donovani obtained from southeastern Nepal was published in 2011.[8]

L. donovani sensu stricto is in a species complex with the closely related L. infantum, which causes the same disease. The former is commonly found in East Africa and the Indian subcontinent, while the latter is found in Europe, North Africa, and Latin America. The split is done in 2007, and references to L. donovani often still refer to the entire complex (sensu lato).[1] As of 2022, the parasite causes 50,000 to 90,000 infections worldwide.[9]

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference twospe was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ van Griensven, Johan; Diro, Ermias (June 2012). "Visceral Leishmaniasis". Infectious Disease Clinics of North America. 26 (2): 309–322. doi:10.1016/j.idc.2012.03.005. PMID 22632641.
  3. ^ Evans, TG (Sep 1993). "Leishmaniasis". Infectious Disease Clinics of North America. 7 (3): 527–46. doi:10.1016/S0891-5520(20)30541-9. PMID 8254158.
  4. ^ Herwaldt, BL (1999). "Leishmaniasis". Lancet. 354 (9185): 1191–9. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(98)10178-2. PMID 10513726. S2CID 208817048.
  5. ^ Desjeux, P (2004). "Leishmaniasis: current situation and new perspectives". Comparative Immunology, Microbiology and Infectious Diseases. 27 (5): 305–18. doi:10.1016/j.cimid.2004.03.004. PMID 15225981.
  6. ^ Engwerda, CR; Ato, M; Kaye, PM (2004). "Macrophages, pathology and parasite persistence in experimental visceral leishmaniasis". Trends in Parasitology. 20 (11): 524–30. doi:10.1016/j.pt.2004.08.009. PMID 15471704.
  7. ^ Lodge, R; Descoteaux, A (2008). "Leishmania Invasion and Phagosome Biogenesis". Molecular Mechanisms of Parasite Invasion. Subcellular Biochemistry. Vol. 47. pp. 174–81. doi:10.1007/978-0-387-78267-6_14. ISBN 978-0-387-78266-9. PMID 18512351.
  8. ^ Downing, T; Imamura, H; Decuypere, S; Clark, TG; Coombs, GH; Cotton, JA; Hilley, JD; de Doncker, S; Maes, I; Mottram, JC; Quail, MA; Rijal, S; Sanders, M; Schönian, G; Stark, O; Sundar, S; Vanaerschot, M; Hertz-Fowler, C; Dujardin, JC; Berriman, M (2011). "Whole genome sequencing of multiple Leishmania donovani clinical isolates provides insights into population structure and mechanisms of drug resistance". Genome Research. 21 (12): 2143–56. doi:10.1101/gr.123430.111. PMC 3227103. PMID 22038251.
  9. ^ "WHO Fact Sheet: Leishmaniasis". www.who.int. World Health Organization. 2022-01-08. Retrieved 2022-02-09.