Department of Medicine, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Granada, Avenida de la Investigación, no 11, 18071, Granada, Spain.
Department of Microbiology, Hospital Virgen de las Nieves, Avenida Fuerzas Armadas, s/n, 18014, Granada, Spain.
Infection. 2019 Oct;47(5):739-747. doi: 10.1007/s15010-019-01297-3. Epub 2019 Mar 19.
To investigate the proportion of asymptomatic infection among blood donors in a region endemic for Leishmania; and to ascertain epidemiological and genetic factors associated with this condition.
We studied 1260 blood donors in the Province of Granada in the Southern Spain. After obtaining informed consent in each participant, a poll about habits, housing and contact with animals were carried out. Blood samples were obtained for determining antileishmanial antibodies and a PCR assay. HLA typing was performed in a randomly sample among the donors with positive serology.
We have found that L. infantum antibodies were present in 7.9% of blood donors and DNA in blood was detected in 2.5% of donors. There was no concordance between both determinations, except in one patient. Taking into consideration both techniques, 129 participants were considered to have asymptomatic Leishmania infection. No participant in this study developed clinical leishmaniasis during a follow-up period of 2 years. HLA were typed in 51 donors. Asymptomatic Leishmania infection might be associated with certain HLA antigens. A multivariate analysis was done with the variables obtained through the participants' interview. The contact with livestock (goats, pigs, and sheep), but not dogs, either at home or in the environment, was significantly and independently associated with asymptomatic leishmania infection.
Asymptomatic leishmanial infection among blood donors is frequent in the Granada Province, south of Spain. The presence of livestock in this region is related to this infection, perhaps influencing vector density of this disease. Some HLA genes might be associated with asymptomatic leishmanial state.
调查利什曼原虫流行地区献血者无症状感染的比例，并确定与该情况相关的流行病学和遗传因素。
我们研究了西班牙南部格拉纳达省的 1260 名献血者。在每位参与者获得知情同意后，对他们的习惯、住房和与动物的接触情况进行了问卷调查。采集血样以确定抗利什曼原虫抗体，并进行 PCR 检测。在具有阳性血清学的献血者中随机抽取一部分进行 HLA 分型。
我们发现，7.9%的献血者存在利什曼原虫抗体，2.5%的献血者血液中检测到 DNA。除了一名患者外，两种检测结果均不一致。考虑到这两种技术，有 129 名参与者被认为患有无症状利什曼病感染。在 2 年的随访期间，没有参与者发展为临床利什曼病。对 51 名献血者进行了 HLA 分型。无症状利什曼病感染可能与某些 HLA 抗原有关。对通过参与者访谈获得的变量进行了多变量分析。与狗不同，在家中或环境中与家畜（山羊、猪和绵羊）接触与无症状利什曼病感染显著相关，且具有独立性。
西班牙南部格拉纳达省献血者中无症状利什曼病感染较为常见。该地区家畜的存在与这种感染有关，可能影响这种疾病的媒介密度。一些 HLA 基因可能与无症状利什曼病状态有关。
