Iso-enzymatic variability ofLeishmania infantumin Spain

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Abstract
In many areas of the Mediterranean basin, leishmaniasis can now be found in HIV-positive individuals. Such cases of Leishmania/HIV co-infection are relatively common in southern Europe, Spain being the country that has reported the greatest number. Since 1984, 359 Spanish isolates of Leishmania infantum have been characterized at the Instituto de Salud Carlos III in Madrid. Most (94.6%) of the isolates came from HIV-positive patients. The results of iso-enzymatic analysis indicated a high level of variability among the isolates, the visceralization in HIV-positive individuals of variants considered to be dermotropic in the immunocompetent, and the appearance of new zymodemes among the HIV-positive human population.