Mixed Mucosal Leishmaniasis Infection Caused by Leishmania tropica and Leishmania major

Mixed infections with different Leishmania species could explain differences in the clinical courses of these infections. On identification of Leishmania parasites from Iranian patients with mucosal leishmaniasis (ML), a patient with both oral and nasal lesions was found to be concomitantly infected with Leishmania tropica and L. major. Mixed infection was identified by PCR amplification of Leishmania kinetoplast DNA on scraping of cytological smears and histopathological sections. L. major and L. tropica were isolated from the nasal and oral lesions, respectively. These species were also confirmed by immunohistochemistry. This seems to be the first reported case of concurrent ML infection with two Leishmania species. It indicates that, at least in this patient, previous infection with one of these Leishmania species did not protect against infection with the other. This result has important implications for the development of vaccines against leishmaniases and implies careful attention in the treatment of this infectious disease.