Abstract

Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is a major disease in many parts of the world. Since no vaccine has been developed, treatment is the best way to control it. In most areas, antimonial resistance whose mechanisms have not been completely understood has been reported. The main aim of this study is gene expression assessing of - and - in clinical isolates. The patients with CL from central and north Iran were considered for this study. The samples were transferred in RNAlater solution and stored in - 20 °C. RNA extraction and cDNA synthesis were performed. The gene expression analysis was done with SYBR Green real-time PCR using ∆∆CT. Written informed consent forms were filled out by patients, and then, information forms were filled out based on the Helsinki Declaration. Statistical analysis was done with SPSS (16.0; SPSS Inc, Chicago) using independent test, Shapiro-Wilk, and Pearson's and Spearman's rank correlation coefficients. ≤ 0.05 was considered significant. The gene expression of and had no relation with sex and age. The gene expression was high in sensitive isolates obtained from north of the country. The gene expression was significant in sensitive and no response-antimonial isolates from the north, but no significant differences were detected in sensitive and resistant isolates from central Iran. Differential gene expression of and in various clinical resistances isolates in different geographical areas shows multifactorial ways of developing resistance in different isolates.