Role of phosphodiesterase in Leishmania survival and infectivity
EPrints@IICB
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Title |
Role of phosphodiesterase in Leishmania survival and infectivity
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Creator |
Vij, Amit
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Subject |
Infectious Diseases and Immunology
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Description |
Leishmaniasis is a vector borne disease caused by various members of the genus Leishmania, a protozoic parasite of the family Trypanosomatidae (order Kinetoplastida). The parasite was described as early as 1756, by Alexander Russell (Hide et al., 2007). In early 1903, L.H. Donovan and W.B. Leishman independently demonstrated the causative parasite in splenic tissue in autopsies from infected patients in India (Bern & Chowdhury, 2006). The disease on the other hand has been thought to have evolved with the human species and plagued ancient civilizations (Tuan et al., 2008). Leishmaniasis is caused by approximately 21 species of morphologically similar kinetoplastid protozoa belonging to the genus Leishmania (Croan et al., 1997), which is divided into two subgenera; Leishmania of the Old World and Viannia in the New World (Hide et al). Leishmania spp. are usually transmitted by the bite of an insect vector i.e. sandflies of the genera Phlebotomus and Lutzomyia. Of 500 known phlebotomine species, only some 30 of them have been identified as vectors of the disease. Each species of Leishmania is adapted to transmission in certain species of sandflies. Only the females feed on blood. The clinical manifestation ranges from simple cutaneous lesions to life threatening visceral forms. Leishmaniasis has a long history. Designs on pre-Colombian pottery and the existence of thousand-year old sculls with evidence of leishmaniasis prove that the disease has been present in the Americas for a long time. It has also been present in Africa and India since at least the mid-eighteenth century (Allison et al., 1993). Today, an estimated 12 million cases of leishmaniasis exist worldwide with an estimated number of 1.5 -2 million new cases occurring annually; 1 - 1.5 million cases of cutaneous leishmaniasis and 500 000 cases of visceral leishmaniasis (Desjeux P et al., 1998). With the exception of Antarctica and Australia Leishmania spp. have been reported on every continent. These organisms are primarily endemic in tropical and sub-tropical regions and human disease mainly occurs in Africa, parts of Asia, the Middle East, Latin America and the Mediterranean region. In Europe, leishmaniasis appears to be spreading northward from its traditional foci. The leishmaniases are considered to be endemic in 88 countries (16 developed countries and 72 developing countries) on four continents. Ninety percent of cases with cutaneous forms of leishmaniasis occur in Afghanistan, Algeria, Brazil, Iran, Peru, Saudi Arabia and Syria, while ninety per cent of visceral leishmaniasis cases are found in Bangladesh, Brazil, India, Nepal and Sudan. In India, it is a serious problem in Bihar, |
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Date |
2016
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Type |
Thesis
NonPeerReviewed |
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Format |
application/pdf
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Identifier |
http://www.eprints.iicb.res.in/2509/1/Amit_Vij_Thesis.pdf
Vij, Amit (2016) Role of phosphodiesterase in Leishmania survival and infectivity. PhD thesis, JU. |
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Relation |
http://www.eprints.iicb.res.in/2509/
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