Identification of a misleading trypanosomatid parasite from Gerbillus pyramidum and G. andersoni in a Leishmania major endemic area in north Sinai.

During an epidemiologic investigation of cutaneous leishmaniasis at a focus in north Sinai, Egypt, between June 1989 and December 1991, 897 desert rodents were trapped and examined to identify reservoir hosts for Leishmania major. Mixed forms of epimastigotes and promastigotes were isolated in Tanabe's medium from 4 Gerbillus pyramidum and 1 Gerbillus andersoni. The 2 forms were later grown and separated as distinct cultures in Schneider's medium. The isoenzyme profile of the gerbils' promastigotes was identical to Leishmania tropica but differed from those of L. major and the gerbils' epimastigotes. The protein pattern by sodium dodecyl sulfate poly acrylamide gel electrophoresis gave no conclusive results. The Hae III restriction endonuclease analysis of kinetoplast DNA of both morphological forms confirmed their similarity and distinguished them from L. tropica and L. major. The gerbils' promastigotes were 30% broader, with a smaller nucleus than those of L. tropica. Following several subcultures, epimastigotes were found to transform to promastigotes. These observations suggest that the 2 forms belong to the genus Trypanosoma. Further studies are in progress to classify this putative Trypanosoma species whose promastigote stages display isoenzyme patterns identical to L. tropica, and which can be misidentified microscopically as Leishmania promastigotes.